The wreckage of the Discovery, the boat that caught fire off Yanbu, Thursday. — Courtesy photo
YANBU — Witnesses and rescue workers who saved 11 people, including five children, from a burning boat in Yanbu are yet to recover from their shock. A 70-year-old woman was killed and 11 others were injured in the fire on the boat Discovery off Yanbu beach Thursday. All the victims were from the same family picnicking in the area. The family members never imagined their pleasure trip end up in tragedy. They were on their way to Riyadh after performing Umrah in Makkah. The fire started after an explosion on the rear side of the boat and it was blamed on a short circuit in the wiring of the air-conditioning unit. According to Al-Madinah daily, the boat was docking at the time of the explosion. Fire engulfed the vessel within no time preventing people on the boat from getting off. The only choice left to them was jumping in the sea. Awad Al-Juhani, who was present at the scene, said right after the accident, all the injured were rushed to hospital. A relative told him that the family was on a pleasure trip. “The elderly woman wanted to take her children on a boat trip in Sharm Yanbu. They rented a boat that was big enough for the family.” Al-Juhani said the family was in Makkah and the woman had performed Umrah before her death. The boat's assistant captain said he was sitting on the rear side of the boat when the explosion happened. “My main job was to stay in touch with the captain on the front side and to keep an eye on children. As we were ready to dock, the explosion happened. There were two children near me. I grabbed them and jumped into the water to keep them away from fire. I took them to safety and swam back to the boat to rescue the women on board. Nearby boats that saw the fire joined the rescue work,” he said. The assistant captain rescued a woman carrying a baby in her hand. She was later identified as the family maid. They tried to rescue the child first, but the woman held on to him thinking the child will drown if she let him go. At the end, both of them were carried to safety together. The assistant captain added, “One of the women nearly drowned me because she did not know how to swim. She was holding me down. She was very afraid but with the help of other men who jumped in to help, she was carried to safety.” Another man, who was not identified in the report, said he carried the elderly woman to safety. She was telling him to be gentle because she was an old woman. He said, “She was talking to us as we pulled her to safety; later we heard that she died in hospital.” Khaled Al-Ali, manager of Al-Ahlam Marina which owned the boat, said the accident was tragic and prayed to God to grant heaven to the woman who died in the accident. Commenting on the accident, he said, “We are following all safety measures. We are providing safety vests and first aid bags. The captain and his assistant are trained to handle emergencies. What happened was tragic and it was destined to happen.” Al-Ali said the Discovery was a good boat equipped with all safety measures and had a capacity to carry 30 passengers. The boat was insured and its maintenance record was good, he added. — SG
