Three workers were killed and three more were injured in an oil tank explosion at a container depot in Chattogram's Patenga area on Wednesday.

The incident occurred around 11:30am at Incontrade Ltd, a private container depot known as off-dock, when the workers were repairing a leak in the oil tank of a prime mover truck by gas welding, an official of Incontrade Ltd told The Business Standard.

"The welding spark ignited the leaked oil from the tank and caused the blast," said the Incontrade Ltd official.

Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS.

Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA) Secretary Ruhul Amin Sikder said, "Three people working in the depot were burnt to death on the spot when the tank exploded."

The deceased were identified as Moktar Hossain, 30, a worker of the workshop in the depot, Md Newaz, 24, mechanic of the workshop and Arman, 21, helper of the truck.

Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS.

The injured people were – Amin, 35, Jobayer, 34 and Robiul, 42, a driver of prime movers. They were rushed to the burn unit of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

Officer-in-Charge of Patenga police station Md Zobaier Sayed said, "Upon receiving the information, we rushed to the spot. The injured were taken to hospital and the deceased were also sent to CMCH for autopsy."

There are 19 Inland Container Depots  which handle 91 percent of export containers and 37 imported items, – mostly food items including rice, wheat, mustard seed, chickpeas, pulse, raw cotton, and scrap – which account for around 20 percent of imported containers.