Oil spill 'did not kill' any dolphin

Last week's oil spill in the Sundarbans has not killed any dolphin, forest officials said.

Environmentalists fear the spill of 350,000 litres of furnace oil last week would wreak havoc on the health of the world's largest mangrove forest.

Fears deepened as no dolphin was seen for several days at the sanctuary near the accident spot on Shela River.

On Sunday a newspaper published picture of a dead dolphin.

Amir Hossain Chowdhury, divisional forest officer of Sundarbans east zone rubbished it.

"Our team scoured the river in the morning after receiving a message that dead Irrawaddy dolphins had been spotted at Shela River's Andharmanik and Tambul Bunia areas.

"They did not find anything," he said.

Chowdhury said the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), too, had no report on dolphin deaths.

He advised people to get in touch with the forest division and WCS if any dead animals are spotted in Sundarbans.

The forest division can be contacted at 01712195946 while the WCS hotline is 0161228800.

Meanwhile, acting secretary to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Khandakar Rakibur Rahman, said dolphins had been spotted in the Shela River on Saturday.

The dolphins did not have oil stains on them and exhibit no abnormality in behaviour, he said citing an international expert.