4 burned, 5 missing as oil vessel catches fire in Jhalakathi’s Sugandha river

Four workers sustained burn injuries and five others went missing in an explosion at an oil-laden vessel in the Sugandha river in Jhalakathi on Saturday afternoon.

The injured are Shakil, 35, Faridul Islam, 50, Iqbal Hossain, 27 and Mainul Islam Hridoy, 27. Details about them could not be found immediately. 

Of them, two are undergoing treatment at Barishal Sher-E-Bangla Medical College Hospital and the rest at Jhalakathi sadar hospital.

Abdus Salam, a worker of Padma Oil Company in Jhalakathi chapter, said the Sagar Nandini-2 vessel carrying around 1 million litres of petrol and diesel anchored in front of the oil company in the river earlier.

It was scheduled to unload the fuel from the vessel on Saturday afternoon when it caught the fire with a big bang inside the engine room around 2:00pm, he said, adding that four people sustained burn injuries and five others remain missing in this connection.

On information, members of the fire service and civil defence rescued the burned workers and sent them to hospitals, he said.

The vessel is sinking gradually as its beneath burst during the explosion, he said.

Md Muhitul Islam, additional superintendent of district police, said divers of the fire service personnel rescued the burned workers and are searching for the missing ones.