اردو
  • At least 5 dead as fire breaks out at Gadani shipbreaking yard

    Fire breaks out at Gadani shipbreaking yard Fire breaks out at Gadani shipbreaking yard

    At least five people were killed and one other injured when a fire broke out in a ship parked on plot 60 of the Gadani shipbreaking yard in Hub on Monday, according to police sources.

    The police also said rescue workers were still looking for three people, while Bashir Mehmood Dani, president of the labours' association, claimed that the number of missing people is eight.

    Earlier, police said the fire broke out while over 55 labourers were working on an out-of-service LPG ship that belonged to ex-chairman of the Ship-breaking Yard Association, Rizwan Diwan Farooqi.

    According to police sources, it is the same ship that caught fire in December last year.

    Thousands of labourers work in perilous conditions, often for a pittance, at Gadani's shipbreaking yards.

    In November 2016, 26 people had been killed and 58 others injured during a series of explosions that occurred during work on an unused oil tanker at the yard.

    Read more: Death toll rises to 26 in Gadani shipbreaking blast

    Fires and accidents are common and the air is polluted, often causing health problems for the workers, who perform the often dangerous work of extracting ferrous and non-ferrous metals, steel pipes and valves, electricity cables, machinery and wood from derelict ships.

    There is no government agency to monitor and evaluate the operations at the yard and there is a lack of health and safety standards for the dismantling and recycling of materials and metals.