Death toll in oil tanker fire rises to 4 as teen worker succumbs to burns

16-year-old Sakib had left school four months ago to become a transport worker and support his family

Teenage transport worker Sakib has succumbed to the burns he suffered in the oil tanker fire at Dhaka’s Savar, taking the death toll from the accident to four.

The 16-year-old died around 1:15pm on Wednesday at the Sheikh Hasina Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute in Dhaka.

Sakib had suffered burns on 100 percent of his body, said Md Tariqul Islam, resident surgeon at the institute.

Helal Howlader, the driver of the watermelon-carrying truck that Sakib was an assistant on, died from his injuries around 9:30pm on Tuesday. He had also suffered burns on 100 percent of his body.

The truck was headed from Barguna to Dhaka when it was caught in the oil tanker fire. All six of the people on the truck suffered burns. Three of them have now died.

Sakib is the younger son of Md Abed Ali of Barguna’s Sadar Upazila.

Four months ago, Sakib left school to start work as a truck helper as the family was struggling, said his older brother Md Nayeem.

“My brother was 16, though the hospital papers say he was 14,” Nayeem said.

Police say that an oil tanker was headed from Gabtali to Savar early on Tuesday when it overturned as it was making a U-turn in the Jorpul area of the Dhaka-Aricha highway. Oil spilled from the vehicle and caught fire.

The fire spread to two other trucks and a sedan. Iqbal, an assistant on a cement-carrying truck, was killed on the spot by the fire. A watermelon trader named Nazrul Islam, who was riding on Helal’s truck, died on the way to the hospital.

Six people burnt in the accident are still receiving hospital treatment. They are 22-year-old Milon from Barishal’s Bakerganj, 35-year-old Abdus Salam from Rajshahi, 45-year-old Niranjan, 35-year-old Al Amin, and 10-year-old Mim from Barguna, and 22-year-old truck driver Md Al Amin.