BREAKING: Multiple dead and injured after tug boat explosion in Crotone, Italy

MULTIPLE people have died and many people have been injured following a devastating explosion on a tug boat docked on the quay of Crotone, Italy.

Firefighters are on the scene of a huge fire following an explosion on a tugboat docked on the quay of Crotone, which killed three people and injured a further two.

The incident happened on Wednesday, August 31 at around 5 pm.

Firefighters tweeted: “🔴 #Crotone, #firefighter intervention underway since 17:50 in the port due to #fire and #explosion in a tugboat docked on the quay. The toll is three dead, one injured transported to hospital and a fifth superficially involved [#1August 18:15].”

🔴 #Crotone, intervento #vigilidelfuoco in corso dalle 17:50 nel porto per #incendio ed #esplosione in un rimorchiatore attraccato sulla banchina. Il bilancio è di tre deceduti, un ferito trasportato in ospedale e un quinto coinvolto in modo superficiale [#1agosto 18:15] pic.twitter.com/qsZBqbiZVh

— Vigili del Fuoco (@vigilidelfuoco) August 31, 2022

A video shows the tug boat on fire.

Rescuers are working to find out if there are other people involved in the blast.

According to local media reports, the most probable hypothesis is that a tank exploded inside another tugboat moored in the port.

“The victims are members of the crew of the boat, which flies a foreign flag. One of the injured was taken to hospital while another is reportedly in fair condition,” fanpage.it noted.

The boat explosion in Italy’s Crotone comes after a 40-metre yacht sank off the coast of Italy’s Catanzaro, which was attended to by the Guardia Costiera of Crotone.

A video of a yacht sinking off the coast of Italy’s Catanzaro, a city of around 90,250 inhabitants, began making the rounds on Monday, August 22 after being shared by the local coast guard. 

The yacht had left Gallipoli, a coastal town in Apulia, southern Italy, and was making its way to Milazzo, a town in the Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, when it ran into difficulty and sank.

“In recent days, the Guardia Costiera of Crotone coordinated the rescue operations of passengers and crew of a 40m yacht, which sank 9 miles offshore of Catanzaro Marina. An administrative investigation has been launched to identify the causes,” the caption alongside the video read.

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