The mystery of ‘100 missing’ Gadani workers

Rescuers, labour leaders believe some bodies might have been incinerated without a trace.

KARACHI: Nearly 250 workers were onboard the decommissioned Japanese oil tanker, MT Aces, when a blast sparked off a massive blaze and a series of explosions on the 24,000-ton vessel at Gadani shipbreaking yard on Tuesday.

Twenty-six of them died – some on the spot and others at hospitals – and another 50-plus workers sustained burn injuries. Some were rescued, while around 100 were trapped inside the ship as firefighters struggled for next three days to put out the toxic blaze, according to witnesses and survivors.



So, where are the 100 workers who were believed to be trapped on the burning ship? Nobody knows. “Rescuers searched the ship after the fire was doused but found no bodies or even traces,” said Bashir Mehmoodani, who has been campaigning for the rights of shipbreaking workers for nearly a decade.

The Edhi Foundation, which was the first to reach the site after the fire swept through the ship, also says its volunteers haven’t found more bodies.



“No dead body was found as our volunteers searched the whole vessel after the fire was extinguished,” Saad, the grandson of the late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, told The Express Tribune. However, he confirmed that the volunteers did find some burnt human limbs.

Officials confirmed that the death toll has gone up. “Six more wounded have died, so the new toll is now 26,” government official Zulfiqar Hashmi said. “One person died at home after being discharged from hospital while five others expired in hospital,” he added.

Muhammad Hashim, Commissioner of Kalat region, of which Gadani is a part, confirmed the new toll. More than 50 others are being treated for their burn injuries at different hospitals of Karachi.

The ‘missing’ 100 workers have become a mystery. Nine families have thus far come up looking for their loved-ones who worked at Gadani shipbreaking yard and have been unaccounted for since the deadly blaze.

“Workers at the shipbreaking yard belong to different parts of the country,” Mehmoodani told The Express Tribune. “In most cases, the families have photos of workers or photocopies of their CNICs. Since no paper work is usually done while hiring workers neither are they issued any IDs or employment letters, it is very difficult to confirm it somebody really works in the shipbreaking yard,” he added.

Mehmoodani disclosed that some of the workers did not have families. “They work and live at the Gadani shipbreaking yard and co-workers have never seen them going on leave to their native towns even when there is no work,” he said.

Mehmoodani believes some dead bodies might have been just pulverised or incinerated without a trace. And he has reason to substantiate his belief. “The gigantic ship burnt for four days as civilian and military firefighters struggled to put out the deadly conflagration,” he said.

“The flames were so intense that when the firefighters would put water it would evaporate after hitting the ship,” he added. “I believe some of the bodies might have been burnt to ashes and swept away by water.”



Saleem Baloch who worked as a watchman in a nearby yard, says that the contractor had hired 250 workers to break MT Aces for scrap a day before the tragic incident. “All the workers spent the night in the yard and went to work the next morning,” he told The Express Tribune.

Nasir Mansoor, the deputy general secretary of the National Trade Union Federation, is also clueless about the unaccounted for workers. “Since the authorities could not extinguish the fire quickly it added to the mystery about the missing workers,” he said.

He came down hard on the central and Balochistan governments for their apathetic attitude towards the Gadani shipbreaking yard which earns them billions of rupees in taxes. “There is no fully-equipped fire station. If a fire breaks out, fire engines are called from Hub and Karachi Port Trust,” he regretted.

It is still unclear what triggered the blast which sparked off the fire. Police believe it occurred as workers were welding near a fuel tank oblivious of the fact that the ship was full of combustible fumes.

The government has formed an inquiry committee to find out what caused the deadly inferno. The committee held its first meeting in the port city of Karachi Saturday and said it would finalise a report within a week.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2016.