The death toll from the Dubai Drydocks accident has climbed to 16 with three more bodies retrieved Thursday, a drydocks official said.
According to AP, the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the toll was projected to climb further. At least 20 people remain missing.
Those killed and missing are among 3,500 employees working at the modern shipyard that provides maintenance to ships passing through the Gulf region. It also builds small vessels.
The police did not give the nationalities of the victims, but most of the workforce are Asians, mainly Indians, Filipinos, Bnagldeshis and Sri Lankans.
Dubai's deputy police chief, General Nasser al-Sayed Abdul Razzek said 241 workers, mostly Asians, were on the job at the time of the accident. A total of 85 frogmen had been drafted in but paint polluted the waters making the task more difficult, Razeek said.
Wednesday's accident, in which 23 people were also wounded, took place when two panels of a dock gate ruptured as work was being carried out on them, allowing sea water to surge into the drydocks. The three latest bodies were found in the afternoon, the official said.
Several thousand people were inside the drydocks when the accident happened. Five ships undergoing work suffered varying degrees of damage. Damage would take months to repair, an official said.
The Dubai Drydocks opened in 1983 and is one of the world's biggest. It has four docks, 8,202 feet of repair berths and a port. It is protected by 2.49 miles of breakwaters and a 1,148-foot wide entrance from the sea. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
