Houseboat gutted by fire in Alappuzha's Pallathuruthy, crew jump overboard to safety
A luxury houseboat, valued at ₹70 lakh, anchored at Pallathuruthy on Vembanad Lake, was destroyed by fire suspected to be from pest repellent.
A luxury houseboat, valued at ₹70 lakh, anchored at Pallathuruthy on Vembanad Lake, was destroyed by fire suspected to be from pest repellent.
A luxury houseboat, valued at ₹70 lakh, anchored at Pallathuruthy on Vembanad Lake, was destroyed by fire suspected to be from pest repellent.
A double-decker luxury houseboat worth ₹70 lakh was destroyed in a devastating fire on the Pallathuruthy River in Alappuzha. The incident took place on the west bank of the Pamba River near the Vattapparambil temple on the Chungam-Pallathuruthy road late yesterday evening. Only crew members were on board when the fire broke out, and they managed to save themselves by jumping into the river and swimming ashore.
The houseboat, owned by Alappuzha native Rejeesh, had been safely anchored at around 5:30 PM after dropping off tourists. The fire erupted around 8:45 PM, rapidly spreading across the entire wooden structure. Local residents and crew members from nearby houseboats immediately initiated rescue efforts, battling the flames to prevent them from spreading to other closely docked tourist vessels, thereby avoiding a major disaster.
Emergency services face hurdles
Alappuzha fire force personnel rushed to the spot but were delayed due to the extremely poor condition of the access road, which forced their fire engines to stop midway. The firefighters secured a speedboat to transport their crew and equipment to the burning vessel to fully contain the fire.
Cockroach repellent suspected as cause
A preliminary investigation suggests that the fire may have been ignited by a burning pest control incense stick or cockroach repellent coil left unattended inside the vessel. The three-room, air-conditioned luxury boat had been leased out to another operator and was built five years ago. This incident is the second major boat fire in the area recently, following a massive blaze that gutted three houseboats at Pallathuruthy earlier this month, raising urgent questions regarding safety protocols on tourist boats.
The extensive firefighting and rescue operation was successfully coordinated by Senior Fire Rescue Officer PP Prashanth and Fire Officers Justin Jacob, Danny George, H Prashanth, Padmakumar, H Ansil, M Manoj, Shyam Kumar, Arun Raj, and Vipin S Dutt.