The warning that the fire has left on a yacht in Manga THE UNIVERSAL

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It was a big column of black smoke rising up in the sky, showing Cartagena and foreigners that something bad happened yesterday in the Manga district.

The smoke was visible at a great distance and revealed what happened with a hunt under the American flag that flared up in the bay of the aforementioned district. Furthermore, the state of emergency was because the man who manned that boat had sustained second-degree burns on his arms and legs and had been taken to a medical center.

Some assumed that the fire would have started after an explosion in one of the fuel tanks of the yacht, called King Puffa. Another version showed that there was an escape from the hydrocarbon and others said it was the product of inappropriate manipulation.

Until yesterday, however, the authorities were not clear about the cause of the emergency and they have opened investigations to determine them. They also could not tell us if the boat was used with diesel or petrol.

The Maritime Directorate (Dimar) carried out the investigation into the causes of the fire in a group of inspectors of ships and the pollution of the captains of Port of Cartagena, regional unit of the Colombian maritime authority.

The Dimar announced that the motorboat King Puffa, 38 feet long (11.5 meters) and almost 4 meters long, arrived on 24 September in the port of Cartagena, coming from Puerto Lindo (Panama). For this institution, they presented all valid documents from the ship to stay in the country.

The bad hour happened yesterday at 9 o'clock in the morning, when the motorboat was moored at a jetty at the Manga Yacht Club. Neighbors say that an explosion was suddenly heard. "Apparently someone was working there and that caused the explosion," said Joel Barrios, commander of Cartagena's fire department. On the motorboat was Germán López Valencia, 71, who suffered second-degree burns on the arms and legs. One version indicates that he would have tried to arrange the flames with a fire extinguisher, but that was not possible.

Neighbors tell people that ropes were stuck to the yacht between different people, and from the shore they began to drag it, until it was left next to Manga's public dock, between the Nautical Club and the Pastelillo. There were members of the fire brigade, the Coast Guard of the National Navy, the Metropolitan Police and the Harbor Master. The police were responsible to help the wounded and brought him to the Caribbean Sea Hospital, while several members of the Fire Department, on board of two machines, extinguished the flames that consumed the ship and the event was quickly checked. The fire service commander also noted that the causes of the fire are not clear and that the respective investigations have been done.

The need led to concern among the residents of the sector, who wondered whether the necessary measures were taken to tackle the event and whether the navies were prepared with industrial equipment to address these situations. This was seen by the Association of residents of Manga (Asomanga), who asked why the boat was not brought to the interior of the bay, "and so to avoid that in case of explosion pedestrians and pedestrians, the same than the buildings in the sector . "Asomanga waits for the authorities' report to resolve the doubts about the procedure.

Marine inspections

The captain of the corvette, Alberto Buelvas, captain of the responsible port, pointed out that all marinas should have action plans in their protocols in situations such as yesterday. "They need their repair rooms, their well-established fire systems and fire extinguishers at hand, but we have to look at all those questions if they have not passed these procedures in the emergency of the Nautical Club in Manga. have trained or not, we have inspected these marinas throughout the year.We will verify what happened to the report of the agency, with the report of the owner of the ship, of the expert I have mentioned, with the report of the administrative state of the port and with the report of the bureau, and with an inspection that We are going to do it tomorrow, "explained Captain Buelvas.