Fisheries minister Mohamed Shainee, who was travelling with President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom when the explosion took place on September 28, told reporters that officers assigned to the president’s security acted accordingly following the blast. He, however, criticised the overall security of the president at the time of the blast and the response of the security forces after, saying that many security measures were not in place when the explosion happened. “No ambulance was on standby. Several such measures were not in place,” the minister said, in his first interview since the blast. Shainee raised concerns over the delay in transferring the president to another speedboat and in taking the first lady, who sustained the most injuries, to the hospital. Not enough soldiers were also deployed to the scene, he added. “The whole area should have been cordoned off. But we didn’t see it happen that day,” Shainee said. The minister described the blast as the most dangerous attack the country had faced so far and he had experienced in his lifetime. It was well-planned by “resourceful” people with relevant knowledge and expertise, he said. “This is a big issue. It was definitely an attempt on the life of the president,” Shainee said, claiming that he had even at first come to the conclusion that the explosion was not due to a mechanical failure as it was initially reported. The explosive device, Shainee recalled, was placed right under the seat assigned to the president, suggesting it was directly targeted towards the president. Had the president been occupying that seat, he would have sustained much severe injuries than those received by the first lady, who was sitting on the seat assigned for the president at the time of the blast, he added. “Madam [the first lady] was thrown off and landed near the door. With the president’s weight, there’s no doubt that the force [of the blast] would have thrown him much further, colliding with the door,” the minister said. He, however, stopped short on putting the blame on anyone insisting that it was too difficult to pinpoint the culprit “considering the jealousy”. Asked whether it was an inside job, the minister said, “I don’t like to think [someone in the government] would have done something like that.” The explosion ripping through the main door of the speedboat was, as Shainee called, “a stroke of good luck”. Had it not happened that way, everyone inside would have suffocated, he said, adding that he had no clue as to what happened following the blast. “I tried to take everyone lying on the floor out of the place,” the minister said. He also praised President Yameen for his resolve following the blast and now. The president, even when being transferred to Male on another speedboat, took it upon himself to check whether everyone on board had been accounted for, he added. President Yameen and First Lady Fathimath Ibrahim were travelling to Male from the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), located on the nearby island of Hulhule which is a five-minute ferry ride from the capital city, on September 28 when the explosion took place. They had returned home that morning after concluding their visit to Saudi Arabia to perform the annual hajj pilgrimage. The president was unhurt, but the first lady suffered a spinal fracture while presidential secretary Fathimath Mohamed Solih and bodyguard Abdu Nasir received minor injuries including burns. The first lady still remains in hospital. The blast is being investigated by an enquiry commission set up by the president. Apart from releasing video footage of the incident, the commission has not revealed much detail. But it had been confirmed that two army officers with links to the armoury had been taken into custody, and are now in remand for 15 days. Haveeru has found that the speedboat had been secured by the MNDF for about two hours after the explosion. Sources say that the two army officers had gone on-board without authorisation and are accused of trying to destroy evidence. The government, meanwhile, has said the explosion could be a targeted attack on the president -- an assertion backed by a team of experts from Sri Lanka assisting the investigation. Forensic experts from Saudi Arabia, FBI, India and Australia are also assisting the probe. The claims of a possible assassination attempt have also prompted President Yameen to take extra measures to bolster security. In a major security shakeup, the president sacked his defence minister this week. He has also replaced the police intelligence chief, the armoury chief and the head of personal security in the past week. The Maldives National Defence Force’s (MNDF) Special Protection Group (SPG), which had been tasked with the security of all state officials including the president, has been split into two, with a new division created and put in charge of presidential security alone. In a rare sight, soldiers armed with assault rifles can now be seen patrolling the streets of capital Male. The army insists it is a military exercise jointly carried out with the police and is not related to the blast.