Indian dies in shipyard explosion in Singapore

An Indian national who was severely burned in a shipyard explosion died in a Singapore hospital, officials said on Tuesday.

Karuppan Arjunan, 42, had suffered burns to 90 per cent of his body when the explosion and blaze rocked a Belize-registered ship being painted on Sunday.

He was one of 15 foreign shipyard workers and crewmen who were injured, but died on Monday at Singapore General Hospital.

The Tamil Nadu native, who had been working in Singapore for three years, was thinking about returning to India, a relative told The Straits Times.

The cause of the flash fire in the Belize-registered Rainbow Star has not been determined Five workers were still hospitalised, with three in intensive care. Nine others treated for cuts and smoke inhalation have been discharged.

The men were painting a tank at the time of the fire.

The blaze was the second accident in two months at the shipyard owned by Kreuz Shipbuilding and Engineering.

The Ministry of Manpower issued a stop-work order on all painting jobs at Kreuz.

The Rainbow Star, a supply boat, had been scheduled to sail for the Indonesian island of Batam this week.