UAE ship fire: Red-tape delays body repatriation

The dead body of an young Indian seaman, who was charred to death in a fire onboard a cargo vessel in the sea off the coast of Sharjah, is still lying in the mortuary more than a month after the tragedy because of ongoing court procedures to claim insurance money.

Three seamen, who survived the fire, are undoing treatment in Sharjah’s Kuwait Hospital. They were rescued by the police’s sea wing.

The cargo ship ‘Al Reem’ sank 8km off the coast of Sharjah after it caught fire on March 24. Sharjah Civil Defence tried to douse the fire on the vessel which was on its way from Khalid Port to Iran. The cargo of the vessel contained highly inflammable material which caught fire.

The dead sailor has been identified as 20-year-old Deepak Singh who hailed from India’s Uttar Khand state. The fully charred dead body of Deepak was found in the ship. He was identified from information provided by surviving colleagues.

The body of one missing sea man was retrieved from the sea.

Two of the sailors undergoing medical treatment are Nirmal Goswami and Satya Dev.

Fire victim Goswami said: “We don’t know what happened to the other crew members. We don’t know where to go after getting discharged from the hospital. Fifteen days before the fire on the ship, we were leading a miserable life, eating only rice and ‘daal’ because we were not paid salary.

“On that terrible day, the fire started from the charger of a power generator due to a short circuit and our friend Deepak Singh, who was sleeping in another room, could not come out. There was a gas cylinder inside the room and he was fully charred to death. Clearance for sending the dead body of Deepak has been issued, but still there is no news about any compensation for his family, “ said Goswami, who is being discharged from the hospital.

“We are admitted in the hospital for so many days, but nobody came to look after us,” he added.

There were five people on the ship including Bangladeshi chief engineer Jani Alam (24) and the captain of the ship. Alam is missing.

Colonel Khaled Obaid bin Kanoun, acting director general of Sharjah Civil Defence, said the vessel has a crew of five people consisting of Indians and Bangladeshis.

An official named Osama, who said he was chartering the vessel, said he is not in a position to talk about insurance compensation to be given to the victims of the fire

Speaking to Emirates 24|7, Uma Rani Padmanabhan, an Indian social worker, said: “The families of the survivors of the fire are eagerly waiting for their home coming. Satya Dev, who is the most severely burnt victim with 80 per cent injury, is still undergoing blood transfusion and other treatment. Nirmal Goswami, another victim, is recovering and is in a position to leave the UAE for further treatment back home.” One is yet to recover fully and is occasionally bleeding from his face burns.

The Indian Consulate has issued new passports to the victims as their passports and other documents were burnt in the ship fire.

 

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