'We want to go to a bunker'

Sailors on the stranded Bangladeshi vessel Banglar Samriddhi in a message said they want to go to a bunker after the death of a fellow sailor in a missile attack on the ship which is stranded in Ukraine.

"We all want to leave the ship and take shelter inside a bunker. Get a tugboat for us. Will anybody take us? We are waiting," a sailor of the ship made the request in a Facebook message to Prothom Alo.

The vessel's third engineer Hadisur Rahman died after a missile attack at Olivia port of Ukraine on Wednesday. Afterwards panic intensifies among 28 sailors.

The sailor in the message to Prothom Alo said the wireless system of the ship has been destroyed by the attack. They are unable to contact Olivia port. The tugboat has to be arranged from outside.

In messenger another sailor said, "We want to leave the ship, but BSC doesn't want us to leave the ship. Our lives have no value."

Another sailor Masudur Rahman's brother Mafizul Islam said his brother said on Thursday morning that their cooking equipment have been damaged in the attack on Wednesday. Now they are surviving on dry food. They would be in further danger if they are not rescued.

About the condition of the sailors, BSC executive director Pijush Dutta said it is dangerous for the sailors to leave the ship without ensuring their security. After ensuring the security, the sailors would be rescued. The shipping ministry, the foreign ministry, Bangladesh embassy in Poland and other related agencies have been working in this regard.

BSC officials said the sailors have to reach the jetty in a boat to go to a bunker. Security measures have to be taken to reach there.

Banglar Samriddhi caught fire after the attack on Wednesday. At the beginning the sailors tried to put out the fire. A tugboat from the Olivia port joined to douse the fire. With the assistance of the sailors, the fire was brought under control. The bridge of the ship has been destroyed by the attack. The body of Hadisur Rahman was lying in the debris.

The ship had set out for the Olivia port in Ukraine on 21 February to load commodities from a port in Turkey. After two days, the ship anchored at the Olivia port. The following day, Thursday, the ship was stranded when Russia attacked Ukraine. Within a span of one week, the ship came under attack.

*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo online edition, has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam.