A toxic gas leak at a Bangladesh shipbreaking yard kills at least 8 workers
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A suspected gas leak at a shipbreaking yard in southeastern Bangladesh killed at least eight people on Friday during the dismantling of a decommissioned ship, police said.
Several others were injured at the Ferdous Steel Ship Breaking Yard in the Sitakunda area, police inspector Mohammed Alamgir said. The initial death toll was six, he said, but two others died after being transported from the scene.
The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Senior government factory inspection official Mahbubul Hasan said the workers died due to toxic gas emissions from the ship, according to the official news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha.
“The cause of the gas emission and whether adequate safety measures were in place for the workers at the yard are being investigated,” he said.
Bangladesh’s shipbreaking industry is a multi-billion dollar global giant concentrated along a 20-kilometer stretch of the Sitakunda coast in Chattogram. Accounting for roughly 36% of global ship scrapping, the region houses about 150 registered yards, generating an annual turnover of $2.46 billion and supplying over half of the nation’s scrap steel. The industry employs tens of thousands of workers.
Green campaigners complain that the industry lacks safety protocols and environmental standards. They say ships arrive in Bangladesh with hazardous waste from the West.