At least 8 die in marina boat dock fire in Alabama

A massive fire that killed at least eight people and destroyed dozens of boats in the American state of Alabama early Monday spread so rapidly that nothing could be done to save them, eyewitnesses said. "We didn't have time to do nothing,” said Tommy Jones, a local resident who survived but lost his brother in the tragedy.

Jones said he watched the burning marina helplessly as a small boat containing a woman and her children was engulfed in flames. The fire at Scottsboro marina began just after midnight and quickly consumed the dock as people slept. The wooden dock and at least 35 vessels went up in flames, and an aluminium roof that covered many of the boats melted and collapsed, cutting off escape routes and raining debris over the area. The local fire chief said the death toll could rise.