India offers assistance to Maldives to probe boat explosion

MALE/COLOMBO: India has offered assistance to Maldives to investigate the explosion on a speedboat which was carrying President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom and his wife, the Maldivian Foreign Minister has said.

The Maldivian Foreign Minister Mohamed Hussain Shareef said India, the US, Saudi Arabia and several other countries have come forward to extend help in the probe.

Shareef said that Sri Lanka's Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva had spoken to him and offered assistance.

He said the Maldives accepted the offer and sought forensic assistance to investigate the incident.

Gayoom, 59, had a narrow escape while his wife Fathimath Ibrahim and two others were injured when an explosion ripped through their speedboat yesterday as they returned home after performing Haj in Saudi Arabia.

They were travelling to Male from Ibrahim Nasir International Airport, which is located on the nearby island of Hulhule, when the incident occurred.

Meanwhile, Maldives police today said a team of forensics experts from Saudi Arabia and an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the US have arrived in the Maldives to assist the investigation, Haveeru Online reported.

Five crew members of the speedboat, have been summoned by the police for questioning.

Yameen came to power in a bitterly contested presidential election in 2013. He defeated Mohamed Nasheed who was jailed this year for terrorism, a case that has drawn international criticism.