A toxic gas leak at a Bangladesh shipbreaking yard kills at least 8 workers

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A suspected gas leak at a shipbreaking yard in southeastern Bangladesh killed at least eight people on Friday during the dismantling of a decommissioned ship, police said.

Several others were injured at the Ferdous Steel Ship Breaking Yard in the Sitakunda area, police inspector Mohammed Alamgir said. The initial death toll was six, he said, but two others died after being transported from the scene.

The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Senior government factory inspection official Mahbubul Hasan said the workers died due to toxic gas emissions from the ship, according to the official news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha.

“The cause of the gas emission and whether adequate safety measures were in place for the workers at the yard are being investigated,” he said.

Bangladesh’s shipbreaking industry is a multi-billion dollar global giant concentrated along a 20-kilometer stretch of the Sitakunda coast in Chattogram. Accounting for roughly 36% of global ship scrapping, the region houses about 150 registered yards, generating an annual turnover of $2.46 billion and supplying over half of the nation’s scrap steel. The industry employs tens of thousands of workers.

Green campaigners complain that the industry lacks safety protocols and environmental standards. They say ships arrive in Bangladesh with hazardous waste from the West.