Passenger ferry evacuated due to fire at West Terminal. Photo: Markku Ulander / Lehtikuva
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Roughly 300 passengers were evacuated from a Tallinn–Helsinki ferry early Thursday morning after a bus caught fire on the vessel’s car deck shortly before docking in Helsinki’s West Terminal.
The fire broke out aboard the Megastar, a passenger ferry operated by Tallink Silja, as the ship was completing its scheduled crossing from Tallinn. Emergency services were alerted to the fire at 12:28am, according to the Helsinki Fire Department.
Sami Lappalainen, spokesperson for the fire department, confirmed that the fire had been fully extinguished by 3am. The damaged bus was later removed from the ship and towed away from the dock area.
No injuries were reported.
Tallink Silja’s communications director Marika Nöjd said the ferry’s onboard crew responded immediately to the fire.
“Only the bus caught fire, and the crew was able to extinguish it using the ship’s sprinkler system,” Nöjd said.
According to the company, the fire started just minutes before the Megastar reached Helsinki. Emergency units were already waiting at the port when the ship arrived.
Eleven emergency service units responded to the incident.
Nöjd stated that the ship sustained no damage and that it will continue operating according to schedule.
An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.
The Megastar, which entered service in 2017, has a capacity of 2,800 passengers and operates several daily crossings between Helsinki and Tallinn.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
