A speedboat catches fire, 14 Tapin's health workers survive

Rantau, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - A speedboat carrying 14 puskesmas officers, who will be  on duty along the Nagara River, Rawana Hilir Village, Tapin Distrct, South Kalimantan, caught fire


Candi Laras Utara Sector Police Chief Iptu Ketut Sedimen said that the Margasari Hilir Community Health Center (Puskesmas) officers were about to carry out their job for handling integrated health post (posyandu) for toddlers and non-communicable disease in five villages.

"The cause of fire is thought to be overhead and short circuit in the electrical part of the boat," Ketut said here, Thursday.

The speedboat was about to moor to shore when a small fire appeared before it grew bigger and was ignited by fuel in the engine.

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"The speedboat departs from Pasar Lama Margasari pier," said Ketut.

The motorist reacted quickly by asking passengers to immediately climb up onto the backrests and some jumped into the river to save themselves.

Even though there were no casualties, the fire had caused a hundreds of millions damages, including speedboat belonging to puskesmas, medicines, equipments, and personal belongings of officers.

"The value of the speedboat is about Rp758 million, four bags of medicine Rp10 million, vaccine Rp1 million, five smartphone belonging to passengers Rp16 million, and other equipment items are estimated at Rp10 million," explained Ketut.

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