The fire resulted due to steam leak in one of the ship’s boiler rooms but it was quickly brought under control. Four sailors, who were present at the scene and combating the fire, suffered from asphyxiation due to the smoke. One of them, Chief Engineering Mechanic Ashu Singh, was critical having suffered smoke inhalation. He was shifted to the naval hospital at Goa where he suffered a cardiac arrest and succumbed to his injury.
The other three are under treatment and out of danger. Prima facie, some insulating material in the boiler room appears to have caught fire from heat due to steam leak. Investigations are on.
INS Viraat is expected to sail back to Mumbai soon. It is informed that a minor fire incident in the boiler room of INS Viraat occurred when she had berthed at Goa harbour after the sortie of annual family day out at sea held on Sunday.
All the families had disembarked and the ship was in the process of shutting down the machinery including the boilers. The fire was immediately brought under control by the ship’s crew using onboard fire-fighting equipment.
Due to the thick smoke emanating during the fire, few sailors in the boiler room had inhaled smoke.
According to the investigating officer PSI Rishikesh Patil, the incident reported around 4 pm on Sunday. Patil said one of five members, who were inside the boiler of the ship, expired due to suffocation.
