Sunday, June 5 2005 09:52 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Haldia (WB): It was midnight of May 31 when M V Faiz, the ill-fated cargo ship caught fire trapping three family member's of Captain P B Shelley, who also died while trying to rescue them, according to the rescued crew members who were brought in Haldia by the Coast Guard.

All the ten crew-members of the Kolkata-bound ship carrying pulses, who were picked up from the open sea by the Coast Guard, gave harrowing details of seeing their captain being burnt to death.

The chief officer of ill-fated ship, Rajiv Lahiri, who jumped into the rough sea in panic without a life jacket, was yet to be found, Coast Guard Commander, Eastern Region, Gurupesh Singh, told newsmen in Haldia.

The highly traumatised crew-members, who were rescued from a life raft after sending out distress signals and brought back by the Coast Guard ship, Chand Bibi, left for their homes in Kolkata.

Giving eyewitness account of the fire onboard on the night of the disaster the crew-members said that it caught everybody by surprise as it started past midnight from the engine room and then spread to the living quarters.

"In the ensuing chaos we saw the captain rushing to rescue his family members from his cabin, but as soon as he opened the door a huge ball of flame engulfed him," one of the crew-members said.