4 workers burnt in Ctg ship-breaking yard explosion
About 13 workers were killed in explosions at shipyards in Sitakunda upazila this year
At least four workers were burnt as a fire broke out following an explosion at the Jamuna Ship-breaking Yard in Sitakunda upazila of Chattogram on Saturday.
The injured --- Md Sohel Rana of Natore's Gurudaspur upazila, Zahid Hasan, of Bogura's Adamdighi upazila, Md Mizanur Rahman Milon of Rangpur's Pirganj upazila, Md Firoz of Gaibandha's Sundarganj upazila --- were sent to Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH).
Of them, the condition of two of the injured is critical and they were sent to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka, Dr Liton Kumar of CMCH's burn unit, said.
The other two were released from the hospital after getting primary treatment, he added.
The accident took place at 10 am while the workers were cutting iron at the ship-breaking yard, leaving four of them burnt, Kumira fire station firefighter Nazmul Ahsan said.
He said, "Being informed, three teams of firefighters rushed to the spot but the shipyard authority itself conducted the rescue drive. So we went back to the fire station."
Earlier on 2 December, a worker was killed after being hit by an iron sheet at NB Ship Breaking Yard in Sitakunda upazila.
According to the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), Bangladesh Ship Breakers and Recyclers Association (BSBRA) and the Department of Environment, the number of registered ship breaking yards is 150. Of them, 50 ship breaking yards remain open around the year where more than 25,000 people work.
Ship-breaking yards have been set up around the coastal areas of Sitakunda and Mirsarai in Chattogram.
Around 214 workers were killed in this sector in the last 16 years from 2005 to 2020 and 13 workers were killed so far this year, according to the data of DIFE and IPSA, a non-government organisation.
The data of DIFE says 156 workers in the sector were killed in various accidents in the last decade from 2012-2021.
IPSA data stated that 21 were killed in ship breaking yard accidents in 2012 while 11 in 2013, nine in 2014, 16 in 2015, 17 in 2016, 15 in 2017, 20 in 2018, 22 in 2019 and 11 in 2020.
