Ctg depot fire yet to be mopped up

Firefighters were progressing with caution at the BM Depot in Chattogram yesterday after four containers were found to be filled with hydrogen peroxide, the chemical that could have caused the series of explosions since the fire broke out on Saturday night.

Fire was still burning in some containers and four fire engines were working as of 10:00pm yesterday.

Meanwhile, the authorities have revised the death toll from the fire to 41 from 49.

Lt Col Ariful Islam, commander of Brigade-18 of Bangladesh Army's 24 Infantry Division which is helping with the search and rescue, during a press conference at noon said they found four containers of hydrogen peroxide inside the depot.

"If we can remove the chemical-laden containers, we will be able to finish the operation quickly," he said.

In addition to the Fire Service and Civil Defence, more than 500 members of the Bangladesh Army, Navy, police and Rab continued efforts to deal with the disaster.

Members of the fire service and army said they were facing trouble dousing the fire as they were not certain about the exact location of chemical products inside the depot.

At least 40 containers at the depot exploded at different times after the fire broke out.

According to officials of Chattogram Customs House, hydrogen peroxide was in at least 33 of those containers. The chemical-laden containers belonged to Al Razi Chemical Complex Limited, a company owned by BM Container Depot.

Shahadat Hossain, upazila nirbahi officer of Sitakunda, told The Daily Star that a special fire service team from Dhaka was working with seven other firefighting units.

Visiting the spot that resembled a war zone yesterday morning, The Daily Star found many exploded containers, burnt clothes, food products, charred lorries and trucks and plastic products lying scattered across the yard.

Inside the depot, a 650-metre-long shed had also collapsed.

Flames could be seen inside at least 10 containers at different parts of the depot until yesterday afternoon.

The air was thick with strong fumes and black smoke from burnt clothes and containers.

The depot is located on a 23-acre site around half a kilometre from the Dhaka-Chattogram highway.

Sitakunda Circle Additional Superintendent of Police Ashraful Karim said firefighters were facing problems in putting out the fire as no water was left in the six ponds near the depot. The fire service was trying to bring water from ponds farther away, he said.

Another challenge was getting the water to the fire, which in many cases was burning inside stacked containers.

Fire Service and Civil Defence Directorate Assistant Director (training) Md Monir Hossain told journalists in the morning that the operation was taking time as containers on fire were gradually being pulled out from the piles with forklifts, moved to a side, and opened up before the fire inside them could be extinguished.

Spraying water on stacked-up containers the whole day was useless, he added.

Four units were engaged in spraying water on unaffected containers to ensure that the fire does not spread, Hossain informed.

REVISED DEATH TOLL

On Sunday evening, Chattogram Civil Surgeon Ilias Chowdhury confirmed the death toll was 49. However, after half an hour, Chattogram Deputy Commissioner Mominur Rahman in a press briefing told the media that the number was 45.

However, the DC office's information booth around 3:30pm yesterday confirmed that 41 people died from the fire.

Afruzul Haque Tutul, Chattogram district's additional superintendent of police, told The Daily Star, "We have received 41 bodies so far."

"Identity of 22 deceased were confirmed and the bodies were handed over to families completing all legal procedures, while 19 were still unidentified as of 2:30pm [yesterday]," the police official said.

The district administration, police, and other government agencies have no accurate list of how many people were missing.

Shahnewaz Khaled, superintendent of police at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), told this newspaper, "We have collected DNA samples from 32 people.

"We will cross-match the DNA samples after profiling those and hand over the unidentified bodies later," he said.

CONTAMINATED WATER

Water used to douse the fire is getting mixed with chemicals at the depot and then making its way into the adjacent open area near Kashem Jute Mill.

Members of Bangladesh Army were seen blocking drains and canals so that the water does not go into the Bay of Bengal.

Mohammed Robin, member of Sonaichhari Union Parishad, told The Daily Star, "We had trouble breathing yesterday [Sunday]. But we can breathe normally now as the air quality is improving."

"The pungent odour in the air is gone. The situation in our area is slowly returning to normal," said Nur Mohammad, a local.

Professor Ahsan Habib from the chemistry department of University of Dhaka said if the hydrogen peroxide is exposed to open water and its concentration is high, it will have an impact on aquatic life.

(Dwaipayan Barua, Mohammad Suman and Sifayet Ullah contributed to this report)