Two more workers who sustained burn injuries in an explosion at a salt factory in Boalkhali, Chattogram, have died while undergoing treatment at Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH), taking the death toll from the incident to four.
The deceased were identified as Nur Nabi Hridoy, 25, son of Nur Chhofa of Charkhijirpur village under West Gomdandi Union, and Ujjwal Dash, 53, of Madhurampra area in Pomra Union of Rangunia.
Doctors at the hospital’s Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit declared Ujjwal dead around 10:30pm on Sunday and Hridoy around 3pm the same day.
Nurul Alam Ashek, in-charge of the CMCH police outpost, said doctors informed him that around 50 per cent of Ujjwal’s body and nearly 45 per cent of Hridoy’s body had suffered burns. Despite continued efforts by physicians, both succumbed to their injuries.
Family members said Ujjwal Dash had joined Confidence Salt Limited as a contractual worker under a contractor only a few days before the accident.
He was the son of Biraj Dash, one of the 14 people from Pomra who were reportedly buried alive by Pakistani forces during the Liberation War.
Nur Nabi Hridoy got married two years ago and is survived by his one-year-old son, according to his family.
Earlier on the evening of 16 July, two other workers injured in the explosion – Didarul Alam, 32, and Mohammad Alam, 45 – died while receiving treatment at the same hospital.
The explosion took place around 10am on 16 July at the Confidence Salt Limited factory in Boalkhali, leaving 10 workers injured with burn injuries.
All the injured workers were admitted to the Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit of CMCH.
Treatment of the remaining injured workers is continuing. Authorities have yet to disclose the cause of the explosion.
