Karachi:At least 12 people were killed and 58 others injured during a series of explosions that occurred during work on an unused oil tanker in the Gadani shipbreaking yard on Tuesday.
“We have a confirmed reports of at least 12 people dead at the shipyard,” said Deputy Commissioner Lasbela Zulfiqar Ali Shah., trade union officials said, adding that the death toll could rise.
The leader of a ship-breaking workers union said a big explosion and fire engulfed the vessel moored in Gaddani.
“Things are really bad here,” union pesident Basheer Mehmoodani told Reuters by telephone.
“There’s an unclear number of workers said to be trapped in the burning ship.”
It was not clear what caused the blast.
Firefighters were called from Karachi but they proved ineffective given the size of the blaze, he said.
Nasir Mansoor, a representative of the National Trade Union Federation of Pakistan, said the explosion was so big it blasted pieces of metal two kilometers (one mile) away.
“The blaze is still raging and there is nothing fire-fighters can do except to wait for it to die out as they lack foam required douse it,” Mansoor said.
Laborers in Gaddani often work in poor conditions without basic protective gear. The Gaddani ship-breaking industry has fallen on hard times recently and employs about 9,000 workers, fewer than in boom years at the end of the last decade.
Bilawal expresses grief over Ship breaking yard incident
Karachi: Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has expressed grief over the ship-breaking yard incident, at Gadani, which resulted more than 6 workers dead and many injured.
Media reported that fire erupted in a dismantled ship in the yard. Scores of the workers have been trapped in the yard.
In a press statement, Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party has asked the Sindh government for rapid rescue operation to reduce the human loss.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari sympathizes the victim families and asked the authorities for providing the best medical treatment for injured of this incident.
