Police boat abandoned after catching fire in Sandakan, Malaysia

A patrol boat of the Royal Malaysia Police caught fire near a jetty in the country’s Sandakan district in the state of Sabah on Wednesday, February 22.

The incident occurred at around 09:40 local time on Wednesday as the boat started to sail on a routine patrol with two embarked marine police personnel.

The two crewmembers escaped injury by transferring to another vessel that had sailed to the area to render assistance. However, a local emergency services official said the police boat was almost 70 per cent destroyed by the time firefighting units arrived on-scene.

The official added that the firefighting effort was successfully concluded at 10:50. No oil spills or any other forms of pollution have been observed.

An initial report revealed that the patrol boat had just completed refuelling earlier that same morning at the marine police base in Sandakan.