9 hurt in blast

Injured workers being treated at the emergency section of the burn unit of Chittagong Medical College Hospital last night. They were wounded in an explosion at a fuel depot. Photo: Star

Nine workers sustained critical burn injuries after a fire broke out in an oil tank from an explosion at the depot of Jamuna Oil Company at Patenga in Chittagong yesterday evening.
The injured workers are identified as Abdur Rahim, 45, Khayer Ahmed, 50, Md Nazim, 40, Jamsed, 45, Hassan, 50, Shamshu 40, Lokman, 55, Jamal, 45 and Jabir, 40.
The victims were admitted to the burn unit of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).
All except Rahim had suffered severe burn injuries, of whom, five were in a critical condition, said Brig Gen Khondakar Shahidul Ghani, director of CMCH.
Witnesses said the workers had been working at the gate of the tank- 11 in the evening. Suddenly a big explosion took place around 6:15 pm and the roof of the tank had blown off.  
The explosion had also caused a fire and it soon engulfed the whole tank, causing burn injuries to the workers, said the victim Rahim.
Two fire fighting units of the EPZ Fire Station rushed to the spot and doused the blaze around 7:30 pm.
Bahar Uddin, station officer of the fire station, said a spark from wielding equipment of the workers might have caused the explosion.