Update: a later probe report, covered by The Business Standard on 2 September 2026, put the death toll at ten after a further worker died in intensive care. Read our follow-up on the probe findings.
Nine people died after a toxic gas leak aboard the LNG carrier Rasi at Ferdous Steel’s ship recycling yard in Sitakunda, Chattogram, on 14 August 2026, Baird Maritime reported.
According to eyewitness accounts cited in the report, hydrogen sulphide gas leaked into a compartment shortly after workers began cutting into a seawater ballast tank. Two workers collapsed almost immediately; seven others who entered to rescue them were also overcome. Several other people suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.
The Bangladesh Ship Recycling Board ordered a temporary suspension of operations at the yard pending investigation, and the 280-metre ship was cordoned off so specialist teams could clear gases from its compartments.
Wider safety record
In a commentary in The Daily Star, maritime policy analyst Ahamedul Karim Chowdhury wrote that the yard had reportedly received repeated safety notices before the accident, and cited Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies data recording 84 incidents at recycling yards between 26 June 2025 and 14 August 2026, with 15 deaths and 81 injuries.
Event date: 14 August 2026
Sources: This report summarises the following original reporting. Facts and quotations are attributed to these sources.
- Baird Maritime, Toxic leak leaves nine dead at Bangladesh shipbreaking yard (18 August 2026)
- The Daily Star (opinion), Sitakunda tragedy calls for a redesign of the ship recycling industry (17 August 2026)
More from Ship Recycling.
File photo: a ship-breaking yard at Bhatiari, Sitakunda. Photo: Naquib Hossain from Ottawa, Philadelphia, Dhaka / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This article is a summary prepared by Maritime News BD from the report(s) listed above; it was not independently reported by Maritime News BD.
