Fire crews tackle petrol blaze on boat at Zayed Port

Man jumps to safety after emergency at petrol station.

Firefighters put out the blaze on the small boat yesterday near Zayed Port in Abu Dhabi.

ABU DHABI // A man had to leap to safety when a fibreglass boat erupted into flames while refuelling at Zayed Port yesterday.

The Abu-Dhabi registered boat caught fire at 3.30pm after it was filled with 575 litres of petrol, forcing the man to jump from the vessel to land.

"He paid and everything was finished," said the petrol station manager, Vaniyapeediyakkal Hamza.

"He started the engine and there was a small sound from the back of the boat."

Three fire engines and 12 firefighters arrived within minutes and sprayed the boat with foam as a crowd gathered on the Corniche.

"So much fire," Ali Al Muhairi, 24, said as the firefighters worked.

By 4.15pm the only evidence that remained of the blaze was a bit of foam on the water.

"It's very simple, it's a small fire, not much more," said one of the bystanders, Babu Davis, 47, from India. "With the coastguard and the police, it's such a small matter."

An investigation will be launched if necessary, Civil Defence said.