At least 11 people including police officials were injured after another massive fire erupted following an explosion on the Sagar Nandini-2 oil tanker on the Sugandha River in Jhalakathi on Monday evening.
The Sagar Nandini-2 vessel -- carrying around 11 lakh litres of petrol and diesel – was struck by a massive fire on Saturday killing four and injuring four others. One of the workers from the tanker remained missing.
After Saturday's fire incident, the 7 lakh litres of diesel was removed from the vessel. And by-and-large an oil spill was avoided. But following today's explosion some of the petrol has spilled onto the river, according to our Jhalakathi correspondent, and residents of the district are very concerned about its effects, as well as their general safety.
Today's fire broke out around 7pm when another vessel – Sagar Nandini – 4 – was preparing to unload the remaining 4 lakh litres of petrol from the tanker.
At that time, the BIWTA rescue vessel was waiting in the river after completing their rescue operation for the day.
When the fire exploded with a loud bang, the workers of Sagar Nandini-4 jumped into the water and tried to save their lives.
However, 11 people, including police, were injured in the incident, said Civil Surgeon Dr H M Zahirul Islam.
At the time of writing the latest report, 12 units of districts, upazila and naval fire service, are trying to douse the fire.
A contingent of Bangladesh Navy has been deployed to assist in the rescue operation and a Navy ship “Dolphin” sailed from Barisal to the spot, ISPR said in a statement.
Meanwhile, an inquiry committee has been formed by the Deputy Commissioner for the earlier incident. The investigation team, headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner Md Ruhul Amin, has started the investigation and is expected to submit its report to the deputy commissioner tomorrow.
