Two were killed and three others burnt critically as a fire broke out at an oil tanker in Kirtonkhola river near Barishal city.
The incident took place around 4:30 pm on Thursday.
The deceased have been identified as Sadhin, 24, and Babul Kanda Das, 64, employees of the tanker while the engineer Kutub Uddin, 50, assistant engineer Md Kamal and employee Asharf, 55, suffered burns critically.
All were admitted to Barishal Sher-E-Bangla Medical College Hospital.
Now, the process of taking them to Dhaka for better treatment is underway.
The assistant director (acting) of Barishal fire service, Md Belal Uddin, confirmed the casualties.
It is learnt that the tanker named ‘Ebadi’ would carry oil for the Meghna depot. The tanker was anchored on the east side of Kirtonkhola river. All of a sudden, a fire broke out at it. Primarily, it is suspected that the fire originated from an explosion.
There were 16 persons in the tanker; most of them escaped fire jumping off the tanker though two were burnt dead and three suffered burns critically.