Thailand: At least one killed, four injured after explosion on oil tanker ship

At least one person was killed and four others were injured after an explosion on an oil tanker ship took place, on early Tuesday (January 17), in Thailand’s Samut Songkhram province, said officials. According to media reports, several houses were also damaged after the explosion and subsequent fire on the “Smooth Sea 22”, an oil tanker stationed southwest of the capital Bangkok. In a bid to douse the flames water wassprayed from theshore as well assmaller boats onto the ship, as smoke continued to emerge from the tanker, reported Reuters citing videos of the incident.

According to the provincial governor Somnuk Promkaew, as of Tuesday afternoon, seven people are still missing and said that the explosion occurred during welding when some 10 workers were aboard the ship and 30 others were on the banks of the dockyard, reported the Bangkok Post. The incident occurred when the oil tanker was undergoing regular maintenance work at the Ruam Mitr Dockyard.

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The country’s Marine Department indicated that the fire was brought under control after an hour and said they will launch an investigation into the incident. One dock worker was killed, while four others, one a Thai and three from Myanmar were injured and among the seven people missing were six from Myanmar and one Thai national, said a report by the Bangkok Post.

The governor also said that the tanker which was previously reported empty still had around 25,000 litres of fuel oil and 20,000 litres of diesel onboard while it was anchored for maintenance. According to local media reports, the explosion caused damage to nearby houses and was heard several kilometres away. Meanwhile, the authorities are yet to confirm the cause of the explosion.

(With inputs from agencies)

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