Published : 01 Jul 2023, 04:00 PM
Updated : 02 Jul 2023, 01:15 AM
On a new voyage, the oil tanker Shagor Nandini-2 has suffered an explosion that injured nine crew members, six months after sinking and causing an oil leak before being salvaged.
Six people died after a similar blast in Shagor Nandini-3, another tanker owned by the same company, at the same place in November 2021.
Five burnt crew members were rushed to hospital immediately after the latest accident on the Sugondha river in Jhalakathi on Saturday while four others went missing.
The missing victims, who were also injured, were rescued later, said Din-e-Alam, an additional superintendent of river police.
Work to pull the damaged tanker was ongoing, he said and added a coast guard boat equipped with modern technologies to skim the oil from water started from Bhola.
Witnesses said locals rushed to the scene on trawlers after hearing a loud bang and watching burning debris falling from the sky.
They saw oil spilling on the river, one of them said. He expressed concerns over the impact of the oil on the environment and fish.
Asif Mslik, a deputy general manager of Padma Oil Company Limited which owns the cargo, said two small tankers were being used to siphon the oil from Shagor Nandini-2.
“I hope it’ll be possible to remove all the oil by morning,” he said.
The tanker brought 900,000 litres of fuel oil to the Padma Oil depot in the area on Thursday.
The blast at Rajapur village near the district town on Saturday morning occurred possibly because the crew members forgot to release the gas accumulated in the chamber next to the engine room while unloading the cargo, said DGM Asif.
Five teams of firefighters tamed the blaze on the vessel. Four of the wounded have been named as Shakil, 35, Faridul Alam, 53, Iqbal Hone, 27, Mainul Islam Hridoy, 29.
After Shagor Nandini-2 sank in December 2022, local fishermen rescued the 13 crew members. Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority led the operation to salvage the ship.
