One person died and six others injured in an explosion and the subsequent fire on the chemical tanker Royal Diamond 7 at Mumbai harbour on Saturday morning. This is the same vessel on which a fire had broken out last Saturday.
“At 11.25 am on Saturday, the tanker reported to the Mumbai port’s control station that an explosion had occurred onboard and that three crew members had been injured. Immediately, a tug was dispatched to bring the injured to shore,” the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) said in a statement. At the time of the incident, the vessel was near Butcher Island on the Mumbai coast, where it had been anchored since March 19. One of the injured crew, South Korean national Munhyeon Seok, succumbed to his injuries while he was being shifted from J.J. Hospital to Masina Hospital. He had suffered 90 per cent burns.
Apart from the deceased and two crew members, four local workers also sustained injuries. The four men local workers were taken to St. George Hospital, while the crew were rushed to J.J. Hospital and later transferred to Masina Hospital. The fire was brought under control by 1 pm. The MbPT chairman has ordered that an interim report on the incident be submitted at the earliest and the authorities have decided to shift the dangerous tanker to the outer anchorage.