At least 12 Pakistani workers were
killed and more than 50 injured on Tuesday after a huge blast ripped through an
oil tanker at a ship-breaking yard, trapping others inside the vessel, local
officials said.
 |
| A labourer holds a drip for a man who was
injured after an explosion at the Gadani ship-breaking yard, in an ambulance
outside a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, November 1, 2016. REUTERS/Akhtar
Soomro |
The leader of a ship-breaking workers union
said fire had engulfed the vessel moored in Gaddani, 45km (28 miles) northwest
of the port city of Karachi.
"Things are really bad here," union
president Basheer Mehmoodani told Reuters by telephone. "There's an
unclear number of workers said to be trapped in the burning ship."
At least 12 people were killed and another 58
injured in the blast, said Zulfiqar Bokhari, a senior administrative official
in the area.
Nasir Mansoor, a representative of the
National Trade Union Federation of Pakistan, said the explosion sent pieces of
metal flying up to two kilometers (one mile) away.
The blast occurred in the fuel tank of the
ship, which was still on fire, he said.
Firefighters from Karachi and from the air
force and navy were attempting to put out the blaze, he said.
Mansoor said the firefighters would have to
wait for the fire to die out "as they lack the foam required douse
it."
Source:
reuters.
01 November 2016
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