Malaysian navy vessel catches fire: official

One of the biggest vessels in the Malaysian Navy caught fire on Thursday, and firefighters were taking several hours to extinguish the blaze, an official said.

One of the biggest vessels in the Malaysian Navy caught fire on Thursday, and firefighters were taking several hours to extinguish the blaze, an official said.

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The KD Seri Inderapura, the Royal Malaysian Navy's largest landing craft, caught fire in the early morning while it was berthed at the Lumut naval base in Malaysia's north on the Malacca Strait.

"We don't know the cause yet, we will issue a statement later," a Royal Malaysian Navy spokeswoman said, adding that several hours later firefighters were still trying to extinguish the blaze.

District police chief Mohamad Jamil Osman told national news agency Bernama that a preliminary report indicated the fire involved the office and storage areas of the ship, and that no injuries were reported.

The 40-year-old KD Seri Inderapura was reportedly bought from the United States in 1995.