KARACHI, Sept 25: An Edhi Foundation volunteer on Thursday died of gas poisoning while trying to retrieve the body of a ship’s Yemeni crew member from the tank of an oil tanker off the Gadani ship-breaking yard in Balochistan, sources said.

The oil tanker, Alexy II, arrived at the Gadani yard after unloading its last consignment from Dubai, they said.

The 32-year-old Yemeni crew member, who had died after falling into the vessel’s main tank while the ship was still anchored six miles offshore awaiting the go-ahead to come ashore, was identified by Edhi sources as Mashori.

Sources said that Alexy II contained crude oil residue.

On Thursday morning, a team of the Edhi Foundation volunteers, including Mohammad Amin, had boarded the ship off Gadani to reclaim the body of the dead crew member. Mohammad Amin, they said, was a resident of Baldia town.

The four-member team, sources said, had managed to lift the victim’s body to a considerable height, adding that the tank’s depth was about 80 feet. They said that they did not succeed in retrieving the victim’s body because of unfavourable conditions aboard the ship and in the absence of oxygen cylinders.

Mohammad Amin, they said, had fell into the tank after having lost his balance, Rizwan Edhi said.

Another member of the rescue team, identified as Saleem, h ad fallen unconscious after inhaling residual gases from the ship’s tank.

Rizwan Edhi told Dawn that Saleem was shifted to the Civil Hospital, Karachi.

He said that the other two members of the team had also fainted but they regained consciousness after first-aid treatment.

Bodies of both the victim’s could not be recovered till the filing of this report.

Edhi sources termed the attitude of the ship’s crew unwelcoming, saying that they had even declined to provide them an oxygen cylinder to help them in their work.

The team will again attempt to recover the dead bodies on Friday morning after properly equipping themselves, Rizwan Edhi said.