Navy ship's engine room catches fire after leaving India

Two crew members of the BRP Ramon Alcaraz suffered second degree burns after a fire broke inside its engine room on Thursday night just a few hours after it left Cochin, India, the Navy has said.

In a statement, the Navy said the fire was put out in ten minutes. The incident also resulted in minor equipment damage.

"The victims are to be airlifted to a naval hospital in Cochin, India for extensive medical attention," the Navy said.

It added that onboard engineers were assessing the damage to the ship’s main propulsion system to determine whether it could proceed with its voyage or return to India to conduct necessary repairs. 

BRP Ramon Alcaraz and BRP Davao del Sur left India on Thursday after completing its mission to fetch 18 Filipino tourist-repatriates as well as 200,000 pieces of donated face masks.

Lieutenant Commander Maria Christina Roxas told GMA News Online that the Filipinos and the face masks were on BRP Davao del Sur.

The two ships in convoy are expected to arrive in Manila by the end of May. -NB, GMA News