A mechanic was injured when a leisure boat owned by former New Straits Times editor, Salehuddin Othman, 59, exploded and caught fire at the Maharani Muar Off Shore Social Club near Sungai Muar.
The mechanic known only as ” Zul”, 43, suffered burns on the arm and part of his hair in the 3.15pm incident.
He was, however, allowed to go home after receiving treatment from a privateclinic in town.
Two Muar Fire and Rescue units with 10 members rushed to the location as soon as they received the emergency call at about 3.20pm.
Nonetheless, the boat costing RM75,000 was completed razed and could not besaved.
Salehudin who was at the scene of incident said the mechanic was installingan oil filter when it suddenly exploded and burst into flames.
“He tried to put out the fire but when it spread, he ran to save himself,” he said while expressing his gladness that no one suffered any major injury inthe incident.
According to Salehudin, he lives in Kuala Lumpur while the boat was left at the club jetty and was only used for leisure such as fishing in the Straits of Melaka, every week.
He intends to buy a new boat to replace the one destroyed in the fire today.
CJMY
Jimmy Tan
