Two workers have died when a crane’s cable broke during offloading of cargo from a ship at the Mongla sea port. The accident was reported on a Hong Kong based vessel MV Han Xin shortly before 9am on Wednesday.The victims have been identified as Foreman ‘Matin’, 52, and clerk Jakir Hossain, 36. Offloading of consignments was stopped after the accident. The port authorities formed a body to investigate the matter. The ship arrived at the port with machine tools on June 8. HM Dulal, owner of Nuru & Sons, assigned for offloading the shipment, said 12-13 workers started work in the morning. A cable of the ship’s crane broke and the containers carrying the shipment of machine tools came down on two workers, leaving Matin dead on the spot. Jakir died on way to Mongla Health Complex, he said. Police is reaching the spot of accident. Mongla Port Authority chairman Commodore Habibur Rahman Bhuiyan says he is aware of the accident that happened 13 km away from the main jetty of the port, he said. Bhuiyan said they formed a committee to probe the accident. The chairman alleged the company assigned for offloading goods did not inform the authorities of such a big accident until 11am. Nuru & Sons owner Dulal said, “It is routine to inform the authorities of an accident. But we thought it was urgent to let the police know before for prompt measures. “That’s why we have called up the Mongla police and sought their cooperation,” he said. –bdnews24.com
