Explosion on oil tanker in Jhalakathi leaves five burnt, four missing

Five people were burnt and four have been missing after an explosion aboard an oil tanker in Jhalakathi on Saturday.

The incident occurred at approximately 2:10pm on Saturday near the Rajapur village on the southern bank of the River Sugandha near the district town, according to Fire Service officials and eyewitnesses.

The tanker, named Sagar Nandini-2, was carrying 10 lakh litres of petrol and diesel to the Padma Oil Depot in Jhalakathi town when the explosion occurred, according to Mohidul Islam, additional police superintendent of Jhalakathi Sadar Circle. The oil was supposed to be unloaded from the vessel on Saturday afternoon.

However, there was no damage to the oil as the chamber containing the oil did not catch fire, Nasir Uddin Sarkar, officer-in-charge of Jhalakathi Sadar Police Station, said. This is because, he said. 

"The fire was only in the engine room. The fire service was able to extinguish it before it spread elsewhere," added Nasir.

"Oil from the damaged vessel is now being diverted to other vessels," he told the media around 8pm Satrday.

Additional Superintendent of Police Mofidul said there were nine crew members on board and five of them were rescued with burn wounds. 

Those rescued were identified as Shakil (35), Faridul Alam (53), Iqbal Hone (27), Mainul Islam Hridoy (29), and a cook.

The injured victims were admitted to Barishal's Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital and Jhalakathi Sadar Hospital for urgent medical treatment.

But, four crew members were still missing following the explosion. As of writing of this report at 9:30pm last night, search and rescue operations were underway in an effort to locate them and bring them to safety. 

Eyewitnesses reported that while the tanker was anchored, a sudden explosion occurred in the engine room, followed by a fierce fire that engulfed the vessel.

Firefighters swiftly responded to the scene and managed to bring the blaze under control, although the cause of the explosion remained unknown as of filing this report.

The exact extent of the financial losses incurred due to the incident is yet to be determined.