Worker burnt to death

A worker died in a fire when he was dismantling a vessel at a ship-breaking yard in Bara Awlia of Sitakunda upazila yesterday.
He was identified as Abdul Hye, 26, son of late Abdul Jalil, of Hasherhat of Tamijuddin upazila in Bhola.
Abdul was cutting steel plates inside the ship around 1:00pm when a blowtorch ignited a fuel tank, which caused the fire. Abdul was trapped inside the ship, said Sub-Inspector Hasan of Sitakunda Police Station.
Abdul's body will be handed over to his family members, who are reluctant to file any case, said the sub inspector.
BNP leader Aslam Chowdhury owns the ship-breaking yard Rising Steel Ltd.
A report of a survey conducted by two internationally reputed organisations, Greenpeace and International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), says on average at least one worker is injured a day and one dies a week in the ship-breaking yards.
The report styled "The Human Cost of Breaking Ships" published last December simultaneously from Bangladesh, India and Switzerland says at least 1,000 workers died in the last 20 years in Bangladesh's ship-breaking yards.
The figures do not include the deaths from diseases caused by toxic fumes and materials workers are exposed to all the time.