Two killed in shipbreaking yard in Ctg

Two workers lost consciousness and died inside a tugboat while dismantling it at a shipbreaking yard in Sitakunda of Chattogram on Saturday night. 

The deceased were identified as Masudul Islam, 22, son of Jahangir Alam from Sitakunda, and Saiful Islam, 23, son of Ali Hossen from Nilphamari.

Quoting co-workers, inspector (investigation) Shamim Sheikh of Sitakunda Police Station said while working inside a water tank of MV Sierra in the evening, Masudul and Jahangir lost consciousness.

Other workers took them to Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) where on-duty doctors declared them dead on arrival at 10:00pm, he said, adding that the bodies were sent to CMCH morgue for autopsy. 

Mentioning poor safety measures for workers at the yards, General Secretary Md Ali of Bangladesh Metal Workers Federation told The Daily Star that the deceased might have inhaled toxic gas inside the tank.

Meanwhile, Assistant Inspector Mehedi Hasan of the department of explosives said it was unlikely that toxic gas would form inside a water tank of a tugboat. He said they were investigating the matter.

No case was filed regarding the incident as of filing of this report at 7:30pm.

Between January 2018 and this month, 40 workers were killed at shipbreaking yards of Sitakunda.