Oil tanker with 11 lakh litres of fuel sinks in Meghna river

Oil tanker with 11 lakh litres of fuel sinks in Meghna river

Star Digital Report

Sun Dec 25, 2022

Photo: Collected

An oil tanker carrying 11 lakh litres fuel sank in the Meghna river near the Tultuli area in Bhola Sadar upazila early morning today, said police.

A portion of oil spilled in the river after half of the oil tanker Nandini-2 sank after an unidentified vessel hit it from behind around 4 am, said Enayet Hossain, officer-in-charge of Bhola Sadar Police Station, reports our Barishaal correspondent.

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The quantity of the oil, spilled in the river could not be determined immediately, said the OC.

A total of 13 staff member including the master of the tanker were rescued by a sand laden vessel following the incident, he added.

Efforts are on to recover the oil has been ongoing through a pipe since 5:00pm, said KM Shafiul Kinjal, media officer of Bangladesh Coast Guard’s south zone.

After the incident, a hole near the engine room made the oil tanker tiled, said OC Enayet adding most of the part of the vessel sank in the evening.

The oil tanker refuelled with around 11 lakh litres fuel including 2.34 lakh litres diesel and rest octene from Chattogram port was heading to Padma Oil depot in Chandpur yesterday, he said.

When the front side of the vessel went up after the accident, local fishers had taken away a portion of the oil, he added.

Kinjal said the fishers collecting the oil fled the scene after a team of the coast guard reached the spot to rescue the vessel in the morning.

If the oil spills in the river, it will caused huge damaged to the biodiversity and aquatic life of the hilsa in the river, said Arifur Rahman, assistant professor of Environmental Science department at Patuakahli Science and Technology University.