Two foreign workers died after an explosion rocked a shipyard in
Tuas, with the blast felt even 3km away.
The explosion at about 1.20pm yesterday at the UDL Shipyard in
Benoi Road split a flat-bottom barge into two, causing it to flip
over.
The explosion also ripped out the metal walls and part of the
roof of a workshop beside the barge, and shattered the windscreens
of vehicles, and windows in adjacent buildings.
The incident is believed to have occurred when the victims,
43-year-old Malaysian Zainudin Wan Jusoh and 20-year-old
Bangladeshi Hasan Mainul, were conducting checks for leaks in one
of the barge's tank compartments.
Their bodies were recovered near the barge, estimated to be
about 100m long and about 10m tall.
The explosion is said to have been caused by a sudden burst of
compressed air during air testing, a process used to maintain the
water-tightness of a barge.
The loud impact sent about 100 workers from nearby companies
scrambling out of their premises.
Among them was Mr Karuppiah Thangamani, 31, a tyreman who works
at a company opposite the accident site.
"Everything was shaking, it was like an earthquake," he
said.
Hundreds of others, some from as far as 3km away, converged on
the scene after being jolted by a sound which they described as
loud as a bomb explosion.
Safety was the main concern for the management at Goltens, a
company opposite the shipyard. All its 147 employees were sent
home.
The metal ceiling at one of the company's buildings was reduced
to dangling strips, and windows were shattered.
"They are traumatised. When you see the mess up there, it is
quite a relief that no one got hurt," Mr Tom Boyle, the company's
managing director, said of his workers.
He was at his desk when the impact of the explosion brought down
a false ceiling, leaving an air-conditioning unit hanging
precariously above him.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force, which received a call at
1.23pm, sent two fire engines, two fire bikes and an ambulance.
Officers arrived in eight minutes, and announced the two men dead
upon arrival.
A spokesman said no one was hospitalised.
The Ministry of Manpower said it has ordered a stop to all work
at the site, which is occupied by Haosen Marine.
While investigations into what happened are ongoing, industry
experts who spoke to The Straits Times speculated that an explosion
could have taken place because welding was being done while there
was still compressed air in the barge.
The welding was possibly to fix a hole that would compromise the
water-tightness of the barge.
However, such welding would cause the air to expand, and
therefore gush out all at once. Air that is pumped in is usually
released bit by bit after the test is over.
A 37-year-old friend of the Malaysian victim said he had
introduced the father of two to the job at Haosen Marine, and that
the man had been working there for about seven months.
His family has been informed, he added.
The niece of Mr Zainudin's wife said the family has gathered at
his home in Johor Baru.
"We were shocked. We didn't expect it to happen. His wife is
inconsolable."
The Bangladeshi victim is believed to have worked here for three
months.
The management of Haosen did not want to comment.
(Taken from The Straits Times, Friday, 13 May 2011, Page
A12)
