Neither of the recent massive fires have links to terrorism: police

Neither of the massive fires that broke out in capital city Malé during September were linked to terrorism, the Maldives Police Service (MPS) has revealed.

Speaking to press on Wednesday, Chief Superintendent of Police, Mohamed Basheer revealed that their ongoing investigations show no links between the incidents and terrorism, going on to state that they have assessed a total of 21 locations in connection to the massive fire that broke out in Abadheh Fehi Magu in Henveiru-ward of Malé on 20 September.

Out of them, officers had carried out close and detailed assessments of 118 apartments and questioned 23 eye-witnesses of the fire and 20 individuals who were in the region when the fire broke out.

While 27 video footages were acquired through CCTV cameras in the region, 25 of them have currently been analyzed, revealed Basheer.

Investigations also reveal that 12 types of chemicals were stored in the warehouse where the fire was originated, in Thilafusheege. They were imported after acquiring the required authorization from the Ministry of Defense and National Security during 2018.

Further going on to reveal details of the 46-year-old woman who died in the fire, police stated that her last contact with family was at 07:24pm that night. Shauna’s body was discovered at around 11:20pm the same night.

Police confirmed that there was no negligence on any part in relation to the incident and that their investigations also do not show that is was done purposefully.

The chemical warehouse fire on 20 September took down four warehouses and six houses in its wake. A total of 786 had sought temporary aid out of which 450 are men and 336 are women. All of those affected were provided temporary shelter by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) within the few days that followed.

Out of the total amount, 636 are Maldivians and 104 Bangladeshi nationals, 19 Indians, 16 Nepalis, 14 Sri Lankan nationals, six Philippine nationals and one Egyptian.

The incident was the biggest such incident in recent history and the government has assured the public that necessary action will be taken to prevent such incidents from repeating.

Regarding the fire that broke out in the T-Jetty region of the capital city on 30 September, police revealed that their investigations show the fire sparked in the “Nevi” speedboat docked there for refueling.

Eye-witnesses are to have cited that crew members were smoking, which has been deemed the cause of the incident by many.

However, the police are yet to officially confirm the cause of the fire, as investigations are still proceeding.

While the fire was reported at around 03:40pm, it was completely put out by 05:09pm on 30 September. Firefighters extinguished the fire over an hour after the fire broke out, with the help of volunteers. While the speedboat where the fire sparked sank after a while and there are reported oil leaks in the region, police revealed that no arrests have been made thus far in the incident.