8 burnt, fight for lives

Eight workers were fighting for their lives in two hospitals of Chittagong following a gas cylinder explosion at a ship-breaking yard in Sitakunda upazila yesterday morning.

The incident has yet again exposed the lack of workers' safety standards in the ship-breaking industry, said an expert.

At least five workers were killed and many others injured in similar accidents at shipyards in the district this year, according to hospital sources.

Saiful Islam, senior assistant superintendent of police at Sitakunda Model Police Station, said yesterday's explosion took place at Shital Enterprise around 7:30am. The flame was doused soon afterwards.

Five of the eight workers were rushed to the burn unit of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) while the rest to Al Amin Hospital in AK Khan Gate area of the city.

Rozina Islam, registrar of the Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit of the CMCH, said all the workers admitted there were in a critical condition and all of them sustained over 10 percent burns, including in their respiratory tracts.

This correspondent visited the hospital and saw one of the victims, Mohammad Maksudul, 25, of Raumari upazila of Kurigram, groaning in pain. He had suffered over 30 percent burns.

A witness said the explosion took place when the workers were changing their clothes in a room before starting their work yesterday morning.