Fire incident involving boat at Marina Bay

• QX179R

  12 Jul 16, 20:27

  Boat catches fire in Marina Bay near the Esplanade

  SINGAPORE  — A river taxi caught fire near the Esplanade in Marina Bay on Tuesday evening (July 12). 

  
  

  Eyewitness accounts on social media said that smoke from the fire could be seen from as far as the Central Business District. 

  
  

  According to Channel NewsAsia, Singapore River Cruise, which runs the river taxi service, has stopped all its operations. The operator also claimed that no one was on board the river taxi at the time of the fire.

  
  

  However eyewitness, Mr Luke, an 18-year-old student, told TODAY that he had seen a man jump into the river from the boat. Mr Luke said he did not see whether the man had made it to the pier.

  
  

  According to Mr Luke, Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel had put out the fire from the pier using water from the fire hydrant nearby. Police started setting up a barricade as the boat was being towed back to the pier after the fire had been completely put out. The top half of the boat looked completely burnt and “totally unusable”, he said. 

  
  

  When TODAY arrived at the scene at around 7.20pm, an area in Esplanade Park had been cordoned off to the public; and at around 7.45pm, the Esplanade Bridge was closed off to pedestrians.

  
  

  At around 7.55pm, divers and members of the SCDF Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team were also seen on site.

  
  

  -- TODAYonline
• QX179R

  12 Jul 16, 21:19

  River taxi catches fire on Marina Bay; one person reported missing

  SINGAPORE: Divers have begun searching for a person who was reported missing after a river taxi caught fire on Tuesday evening (Jul 12) on Marina Bay, near the Esplanade in downtown Singapore.

  
  

  In a statement on Facebook, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that its Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) divers have begun the search operation in the river. It added that no other missing people or injuries have been reported.

  
  

  Eyewitness Kenneth Lim shared videos of the blaze seen from Jubilee Bridge at about 6.20pm. He told Channel NewsAsia that he saw a person jump off the boat after it caught fire. Mr Lim said two or three other boats approached the burning river taxi, but could not see if any of them had picked up the person. He added that the vessels helped guide the river taxi towards the bank near the Esplanade where firefighters helped put out the blaze.

  
  

  The SCDF said it was alerted to the fire at 6.26pm and that the fire was extinguished using two water jets from the river bank.

  
  

  When contacted, Singapore River Cruise, which runs the river taxi service, said that it has stopped all operations. The operator also told Channel NewsAsia that no one had been on board the river taxi at the time.

  
  

  Another eyewitness, Li Ning, 29, said: "There were police and firemen everywhere, and the whole place was taped and blocked off. The smell was very strong and I hope no one on the boat was injured.

  
  

  "This is the first time I have heard of such a thing happening to a popular tourist ride." 

  
  

  The fire was put out before 7.15pm, Channel NewsAsia can confirm.
  
  

  
  

  - CNA
• QX179R

  13 Jul 16, 20:15

  Marina Bay boat fire: SCDF calls off underwater search for missing boatman

  SINGAPORE: The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has called off the underwater search for the missing boatman of the river taxi that caught fire on Tuesday evening (Jul 12). 

  
  

  SCDF ceased the underwater search at around midnight but resumed a "surface search" in the early hours of Wednesday morning, an SCDF spokesperson said. 

  
  

  The operation at the Singapore River is carried out by both the SCDF DART rescuers and firefighters, working with staff from PUB.

  
  

  The search for the missing boatman started on Tuesday evening. Search methods at the time included point diving at a depth of about 4 metres, employing a circular search pattern from the point where the man was last seen, with the search team moving in a grid formation. 

  
  

  It added that poor underwater visibility was a challenge, and that DART rescuers also had to submerge and search through the deep silt of the river bed. 

  
  

  An eyewitness, Kenneth Lim, told Channel NewsAsia on Tuesday that he saw a person jump off the boat after it caught fire. Mr Lim said two or three other boats approached the burning river taxi, but could not see if any of them had picked up the person.

  
  

  No other missing people or injuries have been reported from this incident, according to SCDF.
   

  
  

  - CNA/dl
• FireIce

  13 Jul 16, 23:41

  Body of missing boatman from burning bumboat near Esplanade has been found:SCDF http://str.sg/4538