Two marine cops jump to another boat during fire

Floating blaze: The marine vessel on fire near the jetty in Sandakan.

KOTA KINABALU: Two marine officials managed to save themselves when the patrol vessel they were on caught fire close to the marine jetty in Sandakan.

They jumped onto another nearby marine vessel after it spotted the smoke and approached to provide assistance.

Sandakan fire station chief Nor Azizi Che Noh said they received a distress call about the fire at 9.49am.

“The patrol vessel was about 70% razed when we arrived. Firemen used seawater to put out the fire,” he said in a statement.

“No one was injured as the two marine policemen on board had already received help from their colleagues in another boat.”

Nor Azizi said based on the information given, the two marine policemen had just finished refuelling the vessel at the marine base at about 9.15am.

“After leaving the dock about 100m away, they realised that the engine had caught fire,” he said.

He said firemen managed to bring the fire under control at 10.15am.

The cause and damage are still under investigation.