Mumbai, Mar 24: A South Korean crew member of a Marshal Island-flagged tanker vessel was today killed and six others, including two foreigners, were injured when fire broke out on the ship following an explosion at Mumbai harbour.
Munhyeon Seok, one of two South Korean nationals who received severe burns, succumbed to his injuries while being shifted to a private hospital, Mumbai Port Trust officials said.
“Seok, a South Korean national, who was being shifted from state-run J J Hospital to Masina Hospital, has succumbed to his injuries. The South Korean Consulate has been informed of the unfortunate incident,” the official said.
At 11.25 AM, the Korean-owned 9500 DWT chemical tanker Royal Diamond 7 reported to the Mumbai port's vessel traffic system control station that an explosion had occurred and three crew members had been injured.
Immediately, a tug was despatched to bring the injured to shore. Besides two Koreans, one of whom died, and a Filipino, four local workers engaged by the owner received injuries in the blaze.
They were rushed to nearby J J Hospital and St George Hospital by ambulance of the port trust fire brigade.
There was an accidental fire on board the tanker last Saturday when it was berthed at New Pir Pau Pier of the MPT after which it was shifted to the ‘Tanker Anchorage - One' at Mumbai harbour, the official said. MPT chairman has already sought an interim report on the incident.
“The incident occurred at the same store room where the explosion and fire took place on last Saturday. The fire was immediately brought under control and everything was back to normal on board the tanker by 1 PM,” he said.
Meanwhile, the senior management of the port visited the chemical tanker to have a first-hand assessment of the incident, the official said.
