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‘Toxic gas’ from Malaysian wrecked ship kills four divers

‘Toxic gas’ from Malaysian wrecked ship kills four divers

Thursday, June 20, 2013, 00:58 GMT+7

Four divers died and four others fell into a coma after allegedly inhaling toxic gas coming from a sunken ship off central Thua Thien-Hue Province yesterday, authorities reported.

The heartbreaking incident occurred midday Tuesday while a group of divers was pumping water out from the the partially submerged Malaysia ship Onnekas One.

Vo Van Thuan, 38, and Van Cong Thang, 33, both from Dong Thap Province; Phan Van Manh, 39, of Long An Province; and Phan Van Hiep, 19, of Tien Giang Province, were killed by a type of toxic gas emitted from the wrecked ship. 

They were from the Long An Lifting Co Ltd, which was hired to recover the wreck by the Saigon Lifting One-Member Co Ltd, which in turn had been leased by the sunken ship’s owner.

According to witnesses, Thuan was killed first while he was examining the pumping tab at the ballast hold of the ship. He showed signs of suffocation and cried for help. Thang jumped into the hold to rescue his co-worker but he then suffered the same fate.

Upon seeing both Thuan and Thang in danger, Manh and Hiep jumped down at the same time to try to get their two colleagues out, but all four suffocated to death.

Many other workers who tried to get the four up from the hold fainted due to suffocation. They were taken to a hospital and have recovered from critical condition after treatment.

Local rescuers and police were called to the scene to bring the bodies of the four divers up and prevent anyone else from accessing the wreck.

The bodies of the divers were later taken to the Thuan An Port for autopsy.

Phan Ngoc Tho, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, ordered the suspension of the lifting of the wrecked ship pending investigation by police into the cause of the deadly incident. 

Colonel Pham Van Duc, deputy director of the provincial Police Department, said that the dead divers did not wear safety equipment while working.

Police and other concerned agencies are trying to identify the deadly gas, but they failed thus far since they have no specific devices to detect toxic gas.  

Nguyen Huu Phu, from the Saigon Lifting One-Member Co Ltd, said his company gave VND30 million (US$1,440) as initial support to every family of the dead victims. 

The ship sank after an accident off Vinh Thanh Commune, Phu Vang District in December 2012, authorities said.

Tuoi Tre

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