Kejadian pukul 2.40 pagi itu dipercayai berlaku akibat kapal
tersebut disambar petir ketika hujan lebat melanda pulau bebas cukai Labuan.
Difahamkan kebakaran bermula dari dek kapal diikuti siri
letupan sehingga kapal tersebut hampir hangus keseluruhan.
Tinjauan mendapati api yang marak atas kapal tersebut
mencapai ketinggian melebihi tiga meter.
Api besar itu hanya mampu dipadamkan pasukan bomba dan
penyelamat pada pukul 4 petang.
Pesuruhjaya Polis Sabah, Datuk Hamza Taib berkata, kejadian
tersebut dimaklumkan oleh seorang polis bantuan, Asian Supply Base, yang sedang
membuat rondaan di jeti terbabit.
Semasa kejadian, kapal tersebut membawa 29 anak kapal
terdiri daripada 23 rakyat Malaysia dan enam warga Filipina yang sedang sibuk
memunggah kargo berisi bahan bakar jenis methanol dari kapal turun ke jeti.
Lightning blamed as Malaysia tanker explodes
26 July 2012
KUALA LUMPUR (July 26, 2012): A Malaysian tanker exploded as
it was being loaded with methanol Thursday leaving one crew member dead and
four missing, police said, blaming a bolt of lightning.
The accident happened at a methanol terminal run by national
energy firm Petronas on the South China Sea island
of Labuan, off Borneo,
said the ship's operating company MISC.
Three loud blasts rocked the island and the 38,000-tonne
Bunga Alpinia was left about "80 percent destroyed", Labuan police chief Saiman Kasran told AFP.
"There was heavy rain and lightning at that time,"
he said. "We presume the fire was caused by a lightning strike. We found
one body and four crew members are missing."
MISC, which is a subsidiary of Petronas, said in a statement
the chemical and palm oil tanker had 29 people on board -- 23 Malaysians and
six Filipinos -- and 24 were brought ashore safely. It gave no further details.
– AFP
