Oil tanker catches fire on Shitalakhya, eight burned

An oil tanker caught fire on the Shitalakhya River at Rupganj of Narayanganj, burning eight workers aboard the vessel.

The incident happened early on Sunday in the Darikandi area of the Upazila.  The burn victims were admitted to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), Ichapura unit of River Police Officer-in-Charge Mahbubur Rahman confirmed it to The Daily Samakal.

The victims are - A Mannan Rahad, 23, Humayun Kabir, 54, Tajul Islam Limon, 24, Imtiaz Ahmed, 42, Rubel, 38, Sohel, 38, Nazmul, 33, and Rakib, 24.

The oil tanker named ‘OT Shanghai 8’ caught fire at around 1am. All the people aboard the ship were burned, the OC said. The victims were rushed to the burn unit.

On information, the Fire Service and Civil Defense (FSCD) unit of Kanchan reached the spot and doused the fire. The vessel's manager Akbar Ali has gone into hiding since the incident.

FSCD Rupganj unit Deputy Assistant Director Md Alam said the fire started from an explosion in the pump house of the oil tanker. After that, the flames engulfed the whole vessel. Details of the incident will be known after an investigation.

The burn unit's emergency section resident physician Dr Md Toriqul Islam said, "Eight burn victims of the ship fire incident were admitted here. Two of them were released after providing first aid. The other six are now taking treatment."

Mentioning that four of the admitted had burnt breathing passages, the doctor said that all six were in critical condition.  

/KN/MHK/