2 Indian crew die in Danish oil tanker off Ctg port

Two Indian crew members of a foreign oil tanker anchored at the outer anchorage of Chattogram port died after falling sick while inspecting an empty cargo tank of the vessel.

The victims, Jishnu Raj (29) and Akhil Sekhar (26), both hailing from Kerala in India, were technicians at the Danish-flagged vessel MT Nord Magic, reports our Chattogram staff correspondent quoting Kabir Hossain, officer-in-charge of Patenga Police Station.

The OC said the two technicians got down at an empty cargo tank of the vessel for inspection at around 4pm yesterday (June 17, 2022) and became senseless.

The second officer of the ship immediately informed it to the ship's local agent firm which with the help of Bangladesh Coast Guard brought the two to Max Hospital in the city last evening while the on-duty doctors declared Jishnu dead at around 7:00pm.

Sekhar died at around 4am early this morning (June 18, 2022) while undergoing treatment at the ICU of the hospital, the OC informed.

The bodies were sent to Chattogram Medical College morgue for autopsy while a general diary was filed by the shipping agent with Patenga Police Station in this connection, said the OC.

Md Omar Faruk, secretary of Chattogram Port Authority (CPA), suspected that the two might have got sick because of gas inhalation inside the empty tank.

The OC echoed the same.

The vessel carrying 22,740 tonnes of soybean oil arrived at the outer anchorage on June 15 from Argentina.