GEORGE TOWN – A welder was killed while five others were injured after a barge exploded at the Harbour Trade Centre at Gat Lebuh Macallum here today.
Yasir Abdullah, 60, reportedly died on the way to Penang Hospital due to severe injuries on his limbs sustained during the 10.54am incident.
State Fire and Rescue Department director Saadon Mokhtar said at the time the blast happened, all of them, who are locals, were working on the deck before the barge blew up.
All the victims were catapulted from the site as a result of the explosion.
The blast also caused a strong tremor that could be felt up to 2km from the site.
“The explosion destroyed 20% of the barge structure,” said Saadon, adding that the fire was completely extinguished at 11.17am.
“We believe the explosion occurred because the sparks may have made contact with the gas vapours in the storage space under where they were working,” he said at a press conference after visiting the scene of the incident.
He expressed the hope that the management could take more precautionary measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again in the future.
Saadon noted that this was the second incident of the sort at the shipyard.
In the previous instance, which took place on May 3, two crew members suffered second-degree burns after the ship they were on caught fire. – The Vibes, December 28, 2021
