Shipbreaking yard worker dies five days after suffering burn injuries

A shipbreaking yard worker died today, five days after he suffered burn injuries in a fire at a ship in Chattogram's Sitakunda on February 6.

The deceased Md Jashim (40), hailing from Kumira in Sitakunda upazila, used to work at the yard.

Hamidur Rahman, director of NR Shipbreaking, told our Chattogram staff correspondent that the worker sustained burn injuries while he was cutting a pipe in the ship's engine room.

"We sent him (Jashim) to Dhaka for better treatment and tried our best to save his life," he added.

Mohammed Ali, general secretary of Bangladesh Metal Workers Federation, said Jashim was a senior cutter at the yard.

He was cutting a pipe that was clogged with gas in the ship's engine room, the general secretary said.

The fire broke out when the spark from the cutting machine came in contact with the gas, leaving him seriously injured, he added.

Md Manik, younger brother of the victim, said his brother was taken to Chattogram Medical College Hospital on February 6.

Quoting doctors, Manik said his brother had 45 percent burns on his body prompting doctors to send him to the capital's Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery where he died early today.