2LT International News

BALI, Indonesia – A fiery blaze ripped through a port in Indonesia’s resort island of Bali, leaving massive destruction on Monday.

The fire that started around after midnight at the Benoa harbour in Denpasar, saw Indonesian workers and firefighters make efforts to extinguish the blaze even until Monday morning.

The fire, which burnt through the huge port, engulfed nearly 40 local vessels, but no injuries were reported. 

Even as the massive fire laid waste to the port, Bali police spokesman Hengky Widjaja confirmed, “So far there are no casualties.”

Images from the island showed flames and huge plumes of black smoke shooting into the sky.

A cloud of thick black smoke was seen rising from the Benoa port, which is located right next to the popular tourist hub of Kuta, even hours after the fire had reduced.

However, even by mid-morning, firefighters were still trying to put out the blaze.

Even as authorities said that they had launched an investigation into the case of the incident, several witnesses quoted in local reports said that they suspected the fire was started by an electrical malfunction.

Later on Monday, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, Head of Data Center, Information and Public Relations of National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) reported that the fire, which started at 02.00 am Central Indonesian Time (WITA), had burned as many as 39 fishing boats in the Port of Benoa Bali. 

In most accidental blazes in Indonesia, which are quite common, fire safety regulations are often seen to have been ignored.