Three boats, hauled out for repairs on Kaashidhoo Island in Kaafu Atoll, were destroyed in a fire that broke out in the island’s dockyard area in the early hours of Tuesday. No one was reported injured in the incident.
According to the Maldives Police Service, they were called to the scene at approximately 12:35 a.m., and it took around two hours to contain the blaze. Following the incident, a team from the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) was dispatched to Kaashidhoo Island.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but the Kaashidhoo Island Council strongly suspects that the incident was caused by an act of arson. The council believes that someone deliberately set fire to two vessels, which had been kept in the dockyard area for an extended duration, leading to a rapidly spreading blaze that engulfed a third smaller vessel nearby.
All three vessels, none of which had engines installed on them, were burned beyond repair in the incident, Kaashidhoo Island Council President Mohamed Amir told a local media outlet.
The authorities confirmed that an investigation into the incident is underway.