Sitakunda Shipyard Gas Leak Leaves Nine Workers Dead

Bangla Press Desk: At least nine workers died and ten others were fatally sick inhaling toxic gas accidentally leaked in a shipbreaking yard at Sitakunda in Chattogram today (Friday), sources said.

The death toll could rise as hospitalised persons "are in critical condition".

The incident of gas leak occurred this (Friday) morning while workers were carrying out housekeeping work aboard a ship at Ferdous Steel Shipbreaking Yard, station officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence at Sitakunda Al Mamun said.

The deceased were identified as Sunny Jaldas, 35, son of Pradwip Das, Palash Jaldas, 39, Sada Das, Habibur Rahman, 50, son of Abdul Malek, and two brothers-- Mansur Ali, 55, and Nasir Uddin, 47 sons of Sekandar Meah, Matiur Rahman Sajjad, 30, son of Mohammed Hanif, Abdul Alim Sujan, 44, son of Mohammed Ali, Md Khokan, 40, and Md Rana, 27.

Five of them died on the spot while the rest at hospital.

Locals and witnesses said a gas pipeline accidentally got severed while workers were dismantling a ship at Ferdous Steel Ship Recycling Industries around 11:15am. "Workers approached after noticing gas leaking from a tank on the vessel, causing several of them to lose consciousness. Leaked gas spread through the shipbreaking yard, causing several workers to inhale it and fall ill."

The workers died after inhaling the gas.

Ferdous Steel Shipbreaking Yard, owned by Ziri Subedar Group, also witnessed a similar incident on September 16 last year, when eight workers were burnt in an oil-tank explosion.

Ferdous Wahid, Managing Director (MD) of Ferdous Steel Shipyard, stated that 8 people died at the scene. Several others were injured in the incident.

Mahmuda Begum, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Industrial Police in Chattogram, said the bodies of the nine victims who died from toxic gas exposure were at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

"Some of the injured are in critical condition, and the death toll could rise further."

Mohammad Mahbubul Hasan, deputy inspector-general of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), said, "At least 10 more workers were reportedly injured in the incident. We don't yet have details of how it happened.

"We'll be able to say more about the cause of the leak, and whether proper safety measures were in place at the yard, once we've carried out an inspection."

Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury visited Chittagong Medical College Hospital to see the victim workers.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Chattogram Mohammad Jahidul Islam Mian visited the CMCH to offer condolences to the families of those killed in the accident and to inquire about the treatment of the injured.

He stated that the family of each deceased would receive Tk 1.0 million, a sum to be provided by the Bangladesh Ship Breakers and Recyclers Association.

Sources said the breaking of old scrap ships has come to threat for the lives of the workers who are engaged for cutting ships without adequate safety measures in Chattogram.

Besides, the breaking of old scrap ships polluted the environment alarmingly in the coastal area under Sitakunda upazila in the district.

The shipbreaking industry is the prime cause of the pollution, including sea water, air and local environment there. Every year, the workers at the shipbreaking yards are being killed in similar accidents.

The ship breaking industry started in the country in 1971. But it has flourished since 1980 with a huge involvement of men and money.

Presently, over 1.5 million tonnes of scrapped iron are produced by scrapping about 80 to 90 ships annually in the shipyards situated over 20 miles along the coast of Sitakunda from Fouzderhat to Sitakunda area.

A total of four types of old vessels are scrapped in the shipyards. They are Turbine Tanker (TT), Motor Vessel (MV), Steam Vessel (SV) and Fishing trawler (FT).

The scrapping of Turbine Tankers is stated to be "very dangerous".