KARACHI - The November 1 blast in Japanese oil tanker, Fudreal M-T-Aces, weighing 24,000 tonnes, is of the worst disasters in ship breaking history.

So far 47 injured have been shifted to the hospital for treatment.

According to reports, still around 150 people are trapped inside the burning vessel.

Unfortunately all efforts to rescue them during night have gone in vain.

Addressing a press conference at Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Wednesday, National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) members said that the ship had been tugged in plot no 54 at Gadani ship-breaking yard some 10 days back and 250 workers had been enlisted for its dismantling just a day before the incident happened.

A blast occurred at 9:40am due to the presence of inflammable and toxic gases inside the fuel tank of the ship, and soon after fire engulfed the ship.

The explosion was so intense that heavy metal sheets were seen flying into the air, which later landed on the ground in a radius of two kilometers.

One of the reasons of the blast is stated to be that the workers were forced to start the dismantling process even before the fuel tank could be cleaned of the remaining highly inflammable oil and its fumes. “Ship-breaking is done with gas wielding process, which led to this disaster,” they opined. They pointed out that more deaths had occurred in Gadani than the ships broken here.

“It is not only a graveyard of ships but also of labourers,” they commented.

“Responsibility for these deaths lies on the shoulders of ship breakers,” they said, and alleged, “The authorities, including police and labour department, have colluded with the yard owners to let them get away with these murders.”

They said that such accidents at the ship breaking yard had become a routine, and loss of lives is reported very often.

“Gadani is one of those areas where the state’s writ is not enforced,” NTUF members added.

They further said that mighty ship breakers ruled in Gadani and the workers were treated in a way as if they were not even humans.

“The workers are deprived of their rights to social security, EOBI pension and to make unions,” they informed.

“They are not even provided with the safety gears to do this dangerous work,” they protested.

They further informed that the NTUF had been holding protests and raising voice against these exploitations for the past one decade; a recent example of which, they said, was the October 30 protest in which the workers had demanded their right to occupational health and safety.

“No heed was paid to any of these concerns raised and this deliberate deafness or negligence led to this big disaster,” they lamented.

On the occasion they demanded the government, concerned authorities, chambers of commerce and the office-bearers of association of ship breakers owners to take measures to stop these injustices with workers, fulfill their responsibilities as per the law and make workplaces safer.

They also demanded that the families of the dead be compensated through cash worth Rs2.5 million each and the injured should be given Rs500, 000.

“Also the yard owners, where the incident happened must be held accountable by the court of law, while police, labour department, social security and other concerned officials should be suspended over their negligence,” they demanded. They further asked the govt to abolish the contractual system of employment, give right to the workers to make unions and collective bargaining, and these unions should be registered with EOBI, social security institutions and others.

Meanwhile the death toll at Gadani ship breaking yard reached 18 on Wednesday, while 60 others are wounded.

Firefighters were unable to extinguish the fire erupted following the gas cylinder blast. Fire engulfed the whole vessel while rescuers from various organisations put in their efforts to fight the fire, but in vain. Witnesses said that number of workers were trapped inside the ship, but because of high intensity of the fire and repeated blasts, rescuers were unable to get inside the vessel to bring the trapped people out.

Concerned officials confirmed that so far 18 bodies had been recovered and shifted the 60 injured to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center Karachi.

The fire brigade officials, wishing not to be named, said that rescuers had not enough machinery to extinguish the fire. “Pakistan Navy firefighters along with other provincial rescue teams are still trying to douse the flames and it will take 24 hours more to put out the fire,” they added.