Transport worker crushed under jute bale at a container depot in Chattogram

A transport worker was killed after being crushed under a jute bale at Incontrade Container Depot in Patenga area of Chattogram yesterday (12 March) night.

The deceased was identified as Mohammad Raju, 30, son of Mohammad Sharif, from the Sudharam area of Noakhali.

Confirming the incident, Saiful Islam, manager of Incontrade Container Depot, told The Business Standard, "A truck carrying jute arrived at our depot last evening. When the truck's helper untied the rope, a jute bale fell on him, leaving him critically injured around 8:30pm. Co-workers rushed him to Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH), where doctors declared him dead around 10:30pm."

"Though the deceased was not our worker, we have reached a settlement with the family to provide compensation," he added.

However, the transport workers' union leaders claimed that the depot authorities did not cooperate in taking the injured worker to the hospital. Faruk Hosen, general secretary of the Chattogram Metropolitan Transport Workers Union, alleged, "The depot authorities did not allow the injured worker to be taken to the hospital."

"There is no ambulance at the depot to transport injured workers. The workers later forcefully took him to the hospital, but it was too late," he added.

Officer-in-Charge of Patenga Police Station Mohammad Shafiqul Islam said the body has been sent to the CMCH morgue for an autopsy, and no case has been filed in connection with the incident yet.