United News of Bangladesh

Seven workers, including two siblings, died and several others fell ill after inhaling leaked gas following an incident at a shipbreaking yard in Bhatiary of Sitakunda upazila on Friday morning. The identities of the deceased could not be known immediately. Al Mamun, an officer at the Chattogram divisional office of Fire Service and Civil Defence, said the incident took place at Ferdous Steel Ship Recycling Industries on the coast along the Bay of Bengal west of Bhatiary Railway Station. He could not provide further details about the incident. Locals said two workers died on the spot and several others fell ill after gas leaked in the shipbreaking yard. The sick workers were rescued and first taken to Bhatiary BSBA Hospital. They were later shifted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, where five others died. The exact cause of the gas leak could not immediately be confirmed. The shipbreaking yard, owned by Ziri Subedar Group, witnessed a similar incident on September 16 last year, when eight workers were burnt in an oil tank explosion. In another incident at the SN Corporation Shipbreaking Yard in Sitakunda on September 7, 2024, 12 workers were injured. Six of them later died after reportedly inhaling leaked gas.