Fire broke out at Benoa Harbor’s west pier yesterday at around 2:30pm, causing extensive damage to three fishing boats owned by PT Inti Mas Surya. Thankfully there were no human casualties.
Just five months after a massive fire destroyed 45 fishing boats in Benoa port, yesterday afternoon’s blaze is estimated to have caused losses amounting to hundreds of millions of rupiah, according to a report by Kumparan.
Raw footage, captured from the toll road and posted on Info Lalu Lintas’ instagram account, shows thick plumes of smoke ascending from the port.
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One of the eye witnesses was security guard Putu Putra Bargita, who rushed to the scene after hearing the shouts of a crew member who had jumped onto the dock in a state of panic. Commenting to Nusa Bali, Bargita claimed that the fire had originated at the stern of motor boat Hiroyoshi 17, before spreading to Mutiara 19 and Hiroyoshi 6.
Rosihana Andi, a crew member of Hiroyoshi 6, said that he and his coworkers were taking a nap when they heard someone shout “Fire!”.
“I don’t know how it started, we were all sleeping. As soon as I heard the shout, we all jumped onto the dock to save ourselves,” said Andi to the source.
Police, military forces, and firefighters were called to the scene and the blaze was safely extinguished within minutes, according to a report by Bali Express. Benoa Police Chief Commissioner Ni Made Sukerti was among those on duty, confirming that she had coordinated with relevant agencies about how to prevent more fires occurring.
Meanwhile, Amin, a representative from PT Inti Mas Surya, said that the company had fully handed the case over to the police. Talking to Nusa Bali, he commented, “We will leave (the investigation) to the police, because when the fire broke out, all the ships’ engines were turned off. We don’t know where the fire came from.”
Local police are still working to uncover the root cause of the blaze.
