Fishing vessel fire on Karnaphuli River: Engineer succumbs to injuries, death toll rises to 3

An engineer who sustained severe burn injuries in a fire aboard a fishing vessel on the Karnaphuli River in Chattogram has died while undergoing treatment, taking the death toll from the incident to three.

Ashikuzzaman Tamim died late yesterday (4 July) at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka.

According to family members, Tamim was a resident of Sandwip Upazila in Chattogram. He was laid to rest at his village home following funeral prayers held after Asr today (5 July).

Earlier, three of the six crew members injured in the fire were transferred to Dhaka for advanced treatment. Two of them – vessel greaser Md Rubel, 33, and Shah Alam, 38 – died on the way to the capital on Tuesday night (30 June). Tamim later succumbed to his injuries while receiving treatment.

According to doctors, the three victims had suffered burns to nearly 100% of their bodies and sustained severe damage to their airways. They were initially admitted to the burn unit of Chattogram Medical College Hospital before being referred to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka.

Captain Zubayer Mahmud said the fire broke out after an explosion aboard the fishing vessel FV Desh, which was anchored on the Karnaphuli River at around 12:45pm last Tuesday (30 June).

He said six people were injured in the incident: cadet engineer Tamim, crew members Rubel and Shah Alam from FV Desh, and Nizam Uddin, Md Russell, and Siddiq Ahmed, who were crew members aboard the nearby anchored fishing vessel FV Disney.

All six were initially admitted to the burn unit of Chattogram Medical College Hospital. As the condition of three of them deteriorated, they were shifted to Dhaka, where all three later died. The remaining three recovered after treatment and have since been discharged from the hospital.

Mohammad S Khaled, head of the burn unit at Chattogram Medical College Hospital, said the three surviving crew members were now out of danger and had been discharged.

Earlier, Chattogram Medical College Hospital Director Brigadier General Mohammad Taslim Uddin said the critically injured victims had suffered severe airway damage and were referred to Dhaka for specialised treatment.

Describing the accident while undergoing treatment, sailor Muhammad Nizam Uddin told TBS that they were sitting on the vessel and arranging fishing nets around 1pm.

At that time, a loud explosion occurred on the nearby FV Desh.

Within moments, flames and intense heat spread to their vessel as well.

Smoke spread all around and even the hair on their heads was burnt by the heat of the fire, he said.

He further said those who suffered the worst burns were working in the engine room at the time of the explosion.

There were engines, fuel oil, gas and oxygen cylinders there.

However, they could not say for sure what caused the explosion and fire.

The incident happened so quickly that before anyone could understand anything, they tried to get out of the vessel to save their lives.