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At least eight workers have been killed after toxic gas reportedly spread while an LNG carrier was being dismantled at the Ferdous Steel Shipbreaking Yard in Sitakunda, Chattogram, on Friday morning.
Several other workers were injured, some of them critically.
Fire Service officials said six bodies were kept at Chattogram Medical College Hospital, while two remained at the shipbreaking yard.
The bodies were recovered following the accident, which occurred while workers were carrying out housekeeping and cutting work on the vessel.
Fire Service officials said the ship had been flooded by tidal water, preventing rescuers from conducting a thorough search.
They are waiting for the tide to recede before carrying out a final search, amid fears that more bodies may remain inside the vessel.
Senior Station Officer Al Mamun said two bodies were at the yard and six at Chattogram Medical College Hospital, bringing the death toll to eight.
Five of the deceased have been identified as Sani Jaldash, 22; Palash Jaldash, 27; Habibur Rahman, 50; and two brothers, Mansur Ali, 40, and Nasir Uddin, 38.
Fire Service Deputy Director Touhidul Islam Bhuiyan said the Cumira Fire Station received the information about the accident at around 10:50am.
Two fire service units, a rescue van and an ambulance were immediately dispatched to the site. Rescuers initially recovered three bodies and two injured workers and took them to a nearby hospital. A foreman in critical condition was later rescued and sent to hospital by ambulance.
According to Bhuiyan, the accident had occurred around two to two and a half hours before the fire service arrived. Some workers were rescued by local residents.
He said rescuers detected a strong gas or chemical odour when they arrived. The smell disappeared after tidal water entered the vessel.
The official said the accident may have been caused by carbon monoxide or other gases produced from carbon residues inside the vessel. He described the vessel as an old LNG carrier that had reportedly remained unused for a long period.
He said such vessels need to be properly cleaned and made free of hazardous chemicals before dismantling. Workers cutting pipes at the front of the vessel were exposed first, while those farther away were also affected.
Chattogram Industrial Police Superintendent Mahmuda Begum confirmed that the bodies of eight workers killed in the toxic gas incident were at Chattogram Medical College Hospital. She said several injured workers were in critical condition and warned that the death toll could rise.
137 Workers Killed in 9 Years 9 Months
Fazlul Kabir Mintu, centre coordinator of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) and secretary-general of the Shipbreaking Workers Trade Union Forum, said 137 workers had been killed and 239 injured in various accidents at shipbreaking yards in Sitakunda over the nine years and nine months since 2015.
According to the data, 16 workers were killed in 2015, 18 in 2016, 19 in 2017, 13 in 2018, 23 in 2019, 10 in 2020, 13 in 2021, seven in 2022, seven in 2023, seven in 2024 and four in 2025.
Up to June 2026, three workers had been killed and 54 injured in accidents at shipbreaking yards in the area.
