5 Nghe An fishermen suffocated from toxic gas in ship's hold, 2 in critical condition

Doctors and nurses are trying their best to save the fishermen. Two of them are still unconscious and their health is very critical.

Doctors and nurses are actively rescuing the fishermen. Photo: Khanh An

Previously, on the afternoon of May 27, a fishing boat carrying Nguyen Ngoc Duc (resident of Tien Thuy commune, Quynh Luu district) and 4 fishermen returned to shore after nearly a week of fishing in the Gulf of Tonkin.

After the ship docked, Nguyen Ngoc Duc went down to the 3-meter deep hold to load fish and fainted from suffocation. At that time, 4 other fishermen on the ship went down to the hold to rescue Nguyen Ngoc Duc and also suffocated from toxic gas.

Locals discovered and took all 5 fishermen to the Intensive Care Unit of Nghe An General Hospital for emergency treatment. Two fishermen are in a very critical coma. One of them had to be put on artificial ventilation. The health of the remaining three fishermen is gradually recovering.

Fisherman Nguyen Ngoc Duc is unconscious. Photo: Khanh An

The fishermen’s family said that because they had caught fish in the past few days but the weather was hot, the boat lacked ice to freeze the fish, so they had to dump the fish into the hold. The fish could have been left in the hold for many days in the hot weather, decomposing the seafood and the organic matter in the fish stew created toxic gas, and when the fishermen went down, they suffocated.