Local fishermen present at the spot told bdnews24.com that oil was leaking out due to a crack in the hull of the overturned tanker.
One of the crew members, who could not be identified, said that visibility on the river was limited due to dense fog and that is why the collision took place.
“We started for Chandpur from Chattogram port on Saturday. Everything was going well till we reached Tultoli [near Bhola], The fog started thickening which later reduced the visibility and we slowed down our pace. After a while, another ship directly hit the engine room on the starboard side, which damaged the hull of the tanker,” he said.
The tanker started sinking soon after the collision. We kept shouting and screaming for help but no one came to save us for a long time. He said just before the tanker was completely submerged in water, a trawler laden with sand came to our aid.
Another crew member alleged that fishermen working near the sinking tanker took out the oil from the tanker.