Panic spread after the oil tanker Sagar Nandini-2 that exploded on the Sugandha River in Jhalakati town on Saturday, exploded again on Monday evening, injuring at least eleven people including nine policemen.
Three of them, who were seriously injured, were admitted to Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital.
The second explosion took place at around 6:00pm in Sugandha River near Kheyaghat of Jhalakati municipality while unloading fuel from the damaged Sagar Nandini-2 to oil tanker Sagar Nandini-4.
Thirteen units of fire service along with police personnel were working at the spot to bring the fire under control till filing of this report at 10:30pm.
Jhalakati additional superintendent of police Moinul Haque said that eleven including nine members of the district and marine police were injured after OT Sagor Nandini-2 exploded for the second time on Monday night.
Out of these eleven injured, six were sent to Jhalakati Sadar Hospital and Police Hospital and three seriously injured were sent to Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital, he added.
Those who were admitted to the hospitals are constable Palash, 25, ASI Ganesh, 42, SI Hakim, 50, constable Mehdi, 27, constable Shaukat Jamil, 23, Dweep Samaddar, 24, Marine Police ATSI Helal Uddin, 55, Naik Siddique, 45, SI Mustafa, 43, and worker Halim Howladar, 50, and cook Qaium Sharif, 32, of OT Sagor Nandini-4.
Among them, three seriously injured policemen Shawkat Jamil, Deep Samdar and oil tanker Sukani Abdul Halim Sharif were admitted to the burn unit of Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital.
Jhalakati civil surgeon Zahirul Islam said that the injured were sent to Barishal SBMCH and condition of worker Halim Howladar was critical.
Meanwhile, three more bodies were recovered on Monday from the oil tanker Sagar Nandini-2 that exploded on the Sugandha River adjacent to Padma-Meghna Petroleum Depot in Jhalakati on Saturday.
Muhammad Salim, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority joint director for Marine Conservation and Management and commander of rescue ship Nirvik, confirmed the matter.
The deceased were Sagor Nandini-2 supervisor Masud Rahman Belal, 55, a native of Nurjahanpur in Chandpur; master of the oil tanker Ruhul Amin Khan, 47, of Purba Nalua village of Barishal’s Bakerganj upazila, and oil tanker driver Sarowar Alam, 45, of Mathabaria upazila of Pirojpur district.
Earlier, the body of greaser Abdus Salam Hridoy, 27, was recovered on Sunday.
Jhalakati Police Station officer-in-charge Nasir Uddin said that legal action would be taken if relatives of the victims file complaints. However, no complaint was filed yet, he added.
The bodies were handed over to the victims’ families after the post-mortem examinations at the Jhalakati Sadar General Hospital.
Meanwhile, some 6,75,000 litres of fuel collected by Mridula-5 and Seven Simak-2 from the exploded oil tanker were transferred to the Jhalakati depot of Padma Oil Company.
The diving team of BIWTA started rescue operation on Sunday in search of the missing persons, Jhalkati Police Station OC said, adding that the BIWTA rescue ship Nirvik arrived at Jhalokati on Sunday evening and started rescue operation on Monday morning.
The three bodies were found inside the exploded oil tanker.
The oil tanker Sagar Nandini-2 carrying 11 lakh diesel and petrol reached Jhalkati from Chattogram on Thursday.
The second floor of the ship, including the master bridge, fell into the river after an explosion inside the engine room at about 2:00pm on Saturday, leaving four people injured and another four missing.
On December, 2022, the same oil tanker carrying the same amount of oil sank in the Meghna River in Bhola.
The tanker was recovered after seven days of the incident.
