The bodies of four crew members were recovered and over 13 people including nine policemen admitted to the hospitals with burnt injuries after repeated blasts in an oil tanker that was carrying oil for the state-run Padma Oil.
The first fire and blast occurred in the oil tanker namely ‘Sagar Nandini-2’ on 1 July, when the body of one crewman was found in the engine room of the vessel, while three bodies were recovered on 3 July.
The vessel sank in the Sugandha River in the Jhalakathi district of Bangladesh following the blast.
Later, a portion oil of the tanker was pumped out to another tanker thus the vessel floated again. Police personnel were deployed in the vessels for security and at the same time hunt for missing bodies continued.
The oil tanker was carrying 0.7 million litres of diesel and 0.4 million litres of petrol. On Monday evening the authority was unloading petrol from the tanker and at one stage the tanker exploded again which burnt 13 people including the policemen.
After the second blast, a part of the ship’s wreckage fell into the river from where divers recovered one body in the afternoon while two others were recovered on Monday morning.
A senior official at the district police administration confirmed the injuries of the police personnel and said they were admitted to different hospitals with five of the critically injured policemen sent to the Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital for treatment.
Moreover, two people with burn injuries, including one police personnel, were sent to Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute in Dhaka as they got burned higher than others.
Firefighters from 12 units in the Barishal district struggled 10 hours to tame the blaze at around 5 am on Tuesday.
The ill-fated oil tanker had, on 25 December last year, also sank in the Meghna River in Bhola Bhola district after colliding with a bulkhead which mainly carries sands.
Sharar Nayel
Asia Correspondent
