- विज्ञापन -
Gaza City: A ship carrying 16 people and humanitarian aid to Gaza was rocked by explosions early on Friday off the coast of Malta, setting the vessel on fire and putting it at risk of sinking, according to the human rights group operating the ship, New York Times reported.
The ship and its crew were safe after a tug vessel helped extinguish the blaze following a mayday call, the government of Malta said in a statement. It did not say what had caused the fire, adding that the authorities were monitoring the ship, which was in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, as per NYT.
The ship, called The Conscience and operated by a group called the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, had left Tunisia earlier this week carrying human rights activists and aid. The group has challenged Israel’s blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian aid there.
Before going to Gaza, the ship was scheduled to stop in Malta and pick up about 40 more people, including the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, said Yasemin Acar, a spokeswoman for the group, NYT reported.
The Israeli military has blocked past attempts by pro-Palestinian activists to bring aid to Gaza by sea, including by force. In 2010, nine passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara, a flotilla carrying aid from Turkey to Gaza, were killed in an Israeli commando raid, sparking international outrage and a deterioration in Turkish-Israeli relations.
Crew members on the ship believed they had been hit by a drone attack, the coalition said. At around 12:20 am (local time), armed drones fired two bombs at the front of the ship when the ship neared Malta, the coalition said in a statement.
That set off a fire, caused a substantial breach in the hull and broke the generator on board, leaving the crew without power. Parts of the group’s account could not be independently confirmed.
Video provided by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and verified by The New York Times appears to show a fire on the ship’s deck as an alarm rings out. Security footage recorded after the reported time of the fire shows people on the ship assessing the damage as a man holds a fire extinguisher.
