#Title 49 deaths and counting Blaze at Ctg depot yet to be doused; containers with hazardous chemicals kept near RMG products in breach of guidelines; toll may rise; 3 firefighters still missing; toxic gas spreads through localities

STAR REPORT

Flouting the guidelines, hazardous chemicals were kept close to containers stuffed with garment items that fed the blaze at the BM Container Depot in Chattogram’s Sitakunda on Saturday, leaving at least 49 dead and over 200 wounded.

Workers of the private depot and firefighters account for the majority of the dead. Of them, 13 have been identified so far.

The number of fatalities is likely to go up as some of the injured are in critical condition and at least three firefighters remain missing.

“At the BM Container Depot, it was primarily found that containers with hazardous chemicals were kept with those full of RMG items, without maintaining enough distance,” Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association (BAFFA) Vice President Khairul Alam Sujan said after visiting the spot.

Containers carrying hazardous chemicals must be stored in a designated place at a depot with proper safety measures in place, maintaining enough distance from the other containers, he told The Daily Star yesterday.

Mentioning that containers with hazardous chemicals have to be marked properly for identification, Sujan said it needs to be investigated whether the depot authorities took such measures or not.

Talking to the media yesterday, State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said there has been negligence on the part of those who run the depot.

“… It needs to be checked whether such a private container depot has the preparations and manpower required for storing hazardous chemicals. If so, why didn’t they work?” he asked.

Faruk Hossain Sikder, assistant director of Fire Service and Civil Defence (Chattogram division), said the source of the explosions could not be known immediately but many plastic gallons containing hydrogen peroxide were found strewn across the depot after a massive explosion.

Mentioning that water should not be used in extinguishing fire in case of some chemicals, another official said that if they had been informed that there was hydrogen peroxide in some containers, they would have taken other precautionary measures and methods to douse the blaze.