A large area in the Meghna River is currently covered by furnace oil spill since a vessel with 1.1 million litres of oil sank in the river early morning Sunday.
Rescue vessel "Sagar Badhu-3" sent on the spot could not lift the sunken vessel "Shagor Nandini-2" even after 36 hours of the incident though two rescue vessels have left to recover it. Another vessel "Sagar Badhu-4" was on its way to the spot to join the rescue effort.
The lighter vessel with 1.1 million litres of fuel sank after being hit by another vessel in Meghna river due to dense fog in sadar upazila of Bhola district early Sunday.
Meanwhile, Padma Oil Company has formed a four-member probe body to look into the incident and the committee was asked to submit its report within four days. Two members of the probe body have visited the spot.
Staff Officer of Bhola Coast Guard South Zone, Lt Hasan Mehedi Arif, said they are engaged in removing the oil from the river and already 200,000 litres of oil has been extracted.
KM Shafiul Kinjal, media officer of Coast Guard South Zone, told Dhaka Tribune that the Coast Guard is currently in charge of the security for the vessel. He said that an oil extraction boat is separating oil from the river water to minimize the pollution. The remaining amount of oil at the tank will be collected by the Padma Oil Company.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority Joint Director Abdus Salam also confirmed the matter.
Jamal Hossain, senior fisheries officer of Bhola Fisheries Department, told UNB that fish in the river will be in danger due to the oil spill.
KM Shafiul Kinjal said the sunken vessel from Chittagong port sank after another vessel hit it at Tulatuli Majher Char while heading towards Chandpur Padma Depot around 4am on Sunday. The accident took place due to poor visibility caused by the dense fog.
All the fuel spilled into the river. Local people later collected the fuel in containers.
All 13 crew members of the vessel were rescued by another vessel passing through the area.
