The crew of a foreign boat that ran aground a reef near Haa Dhaalu Atoll, set fire to the boat and attempted to flee when the Coast Guard began to approach in its rescue Thursday morning.
The boat was set ablaze when the Coast Guard’s speedboat was about 50-feet away. The crew had then jumped into the sea.
The distraught vessel was first spotted Thursday morning by local fishermen, who notified the authorities of the incident.
The local fishermen that reported the incident said that the boat could have run aground the reef sometime last night.
Reportedly, eight crewmen jumped out of the boat in lifejackets, after setting their own boat on fire. All of them have been taken under military custody.
According to sources, the boat was an Iranian vessel.