A foreman of a shipyard died after a piece of iron sheet fell on him in Chattogram's Sitakunda upazila on Monday.

His fellow workers alleged that the shipyard authorities did not take quick steps to hospitalise him, leading to his death.

The victim, Ataur Rahman, joined RA Shipbreaking Yard 10 days ago. Ataur was injured at the yard when an iron plate fell on him around 7:00pm on Monday. 

According to a High Court order in 2011, shipbreaking work is prohibited at night.

Ataur and three others were dismantling MT Gagason Johor, a chemical tanker, which used to sail under the flag of Bhutan. This 118-metre long ship, which was built by China in 2009, weighs around 7,600 tonnes.

Other workers told The Daily Star that when Ataur was standing beside the ship to oversee the work without wearing any safety gear, an iron plate from the rope suddenly fell on him, leaving him critically wounded.

Soon after the incident, they took Ataur to a nearby place, but he was not hospitalised by the shipyard manager and safety officer for around three hours, the workers alleged.

A vehicle takes around half an hour to reach Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) from there, they said.

Asked why Ataur was not hospitalised for hours, Md Majid, safety officer of RA Shipbreaking Yard, claimed that he was taken to nearby BSBA hospital, run by the shipbreaking yard owners. Doctors of the hospital referred Ataur to CMCH. He died on the way to the public hospital.

He also claimed that the victim wore necessary safety gear.

Witnesses said Ataur was taken to BSBA hospital at the eleventh hour from where he was rushed to CMCH.

According to the death certificate, Ataur was brought dead at the CMCH around 10:10pm.

Abudllah Al Sakib Mubarrat, deputy inspector general of Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, Chattogram, told this paper that primarily, they found evidence of delay in ensuring medical care for the injured. They would look into the matter, he said.

Mohammad Ali Sahin, coordinator of YPSA (Young Power in Social Action) working with shipbreaking workers to ensure safety and labour rights, said the life of the injured worker could have been saved if he had been given proper treatment in due time. There was negligence, he said.