Water villas destroyed in fire at Taj Exotica

Five water villas at the Taj Exotica Resort and Spa were burnt down in a fire that broke out early Tuesday morning.

Firefighters from the military’s fire and rescue service were dispatched shortly after the incident was reported at 4:48am, according to the Maldives National Defence Force.

The fire was put out around 6:15am by the soldiers working together with the resort’s fire team.

The Taj Exotica is located on the Emboodhu Finolhu island near the capital Malé.

According to the resorts, guests and staffs were immediately moved to a safe location. “Resort operations were not interrupted due to the incident and is continuing as usual,” it said in a statement.

No one was injured but the water villas were damaged beyond use.

Earlier this month, the award-winning Gili Lankanfushi Resort was forced to shut down after a massive fire destroyed seven water villas and the restaurant. All the guests and staff were accounted for and evacuated from the island with alternative accommodation arranged at other resorts.

Ten days later, the Reethi Beach Resort was temporarily left without electricity after a fire broke out at the island’s powerhouse. No staff or guests were hurt and power was quickly restored.

Along with a spate of tourist drownings, the fire accidents prompted the tourism ministry to launch inspections of all resort islands, hotels, guesthouses and safari vessels operating in the Maldives.