A shocking fire broke out this Saturday on multiple boats in the port of Mantain the province of Manabí, Ecuador. At the moment there are at least two injuries and the causes behind the incident are unknown. It is a key port in the Ecuadorian Pacific, and It is usually used by local gangs linked to the drug trafficking.
Firefighters reported to the local media The Universe that 35 boats were affected, of which at least eleven are boatsand that the wounded suffered burns. These are artisanal boats and medium-sized fiber-type boats, the authorities confirmed.
Recordings of what happened went viral through social networks, where people who were at the port’s fishing dock captured the moments in which the flames filled the place.
Local media reported that the fishermen They heard explosions shortly after 12 (local time), and that the flames had previously broken out.
The boats were on fire, some entirely, while large columns of black smoke expanded across the sky. Those who were there were surprised, and mentioned the heat felt in the area due to the multiple igneous sources.
They also reported that the burning smell It was already felt in various sectors of the city.
An official report from the Risk Management Secretariat stated that they carried out containment maneuvers to control the emergency. Local firefighters were deployed to the area to extinguish the flames and prevent the fire from spreading to other vessels. The fire was brought under control a couple of hours after it started.
In parallel, they mentioned that The health status of the injured continued to be evaluated.as well as the number of vessels affected. “The competent institutions maintain coordinated actions in the territory to address the emergency and evaluate the effects generated,” they wrote on the X social network.
HE The causes of the fire are unknownwhich could be seen on several ships at the same time, something that raised suspicions that it was intentionally started by one or more people. From the Integrated Security Service they confirmed that the alert for the fires was announced at noon.
The port of Manta is located 260 kilometers southwest of the capital Quito and is considered key in the Pacific routewhich is used by local criminal gangs to traffic drugs to Central America, USA and Europe.
Fishermen’s unions have denounced be victims of extortion and piracy For this reason, they have demanded greater control of the security forces.
The National Police conduct an investigation to know the causes behind the incident and if it is related to the port’s link with drug trafficking.
With information from AP
