An explosion and subsequent
fire on-board a beached tanker at the Alang-Sosiya Ship Recycling Yard in India
killed five workers and severely injured two others on Saturday, according to
Indian officials. The fire broke out at 12.45 pm on the
163-metre-long MT Union Brave, a tank-ship purchased recently by
Bhavnagar-based Kiran Ship Breaking Co. for recycling. The vessel was beached
at plot 82.
Witnesses said the fire appears to
have broken out after workers used blow torches to cut open a compartment near
the pump-room towards the rear part of the ship. Workers in other parts of the
yard did much of the rescue work and cut open more parts to pull out their
trapped co-workers. They apparently found two workers on a higher part of the
ship and pulled them out, but could not enter deep enough to rescue five others
who were trapped in the inferno. The fire was brought under control and
emergency responses wrapped up around 6 pm, said a witness. More than half of
the tank-ship had already been cut apart as part of the recycling process.
Source: officer
of the watch. 7 October 2012
http://officerofthewatch.com/tag/ship-recycling/
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