49 deaths and counting

"… 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?"

— State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury

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.

"At least nine firefighters were among the dead. Eight of them have been identified…," said Shahjahan Shikder, deputy assistant director of Fire Service and Civil Defence.

According to witnesses, after the fire broke out around 9:30pm, firefighters, depot workers and locals tried to put out the blaze with water from close proximity.

Around 10:45pm, there was a huge explosion that jolted buildings even several kilometres away. The bang could be heard eight to 10 kilometres from the scene.

Since early yesterday, firefighters and members of Gaosia Committee Bangladesh, a voluntary organisation, carried on their efforts to recover bodies from the depot amid frequent small blasts.

Faruk Hossain said fumes of toxic gas and extreme heat made it very difficult for firefighters to reach some parts of the depot.

Residents within one kilometre radius of the depot complained of the presence of toxic gas in the air.

"We could smell toxic gas in my house around half a kilometre from the scene," said Ali Akbar, a resident of adjoining Shitalpur, who went to the spot around 8:00am.

Water shortages and the spread of toxic fumes all over the depot frustrated the firefighters' efforts to put out the blaze that was still raging as of 1:00am today.

Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association (BICDA) Secretary Md Ruhul Amin Sikder said 16 to 18 containers carrying hydrogen peroxide were kept at the depot for export, but it is not possible to identify the source of explosions without investigation.

He further said the chemicalis exported to at least 12 countries through private depots, and currently some other depots are storing the item in designated places.

Ruhul further said some depot officials were also injured. They include its Deputy General Manager Nurul Akhter, who was involved in the efforts to extinguish the fire.

Around 11:00am, a 200-member team of Bangladesh Army entered the depot to help the fire service put out the blaze and check leakage of chemicals to the Bay of Bengal through two canals.

While visiting the spot, Chattogram Division Commissioner Md Ashraf Uddin told this newspaper that the army was deployed to help the firefighters and prevent the leakage as the depot is linked to two canals connected to the Bay.

The fire damaged most of the 4,300 containers -- of which 3,000 were empty -- at the depot.

Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) Director (traffic) Enamul Karim said that in case of a fire at a depot in the port yard, they try to separate the intact containers from the affected ones and remove those fast.

But in this case, the BM Container Depot authorities could not do so till yesterday morning as most of the equipment operators of the depot were not available, he pointed out.

CPA Chairman Rear Admiral M Shahjahan, who visited the spot around 10:30am, directed the BICDA to engage equipment operators from other container depots to remove the intact containers from the BM Container Depot.

BICDA Secretary Sikder said they started removing some containers from the depot's yard since noon but most had already been damaged by then.

He said products worth more than Tk 1,000 crore may have been damaged by the fire as most of the 1,300 goods-laden containers got damaged.

[DWAIPAYAN BARUA, ARUN BIKASH DEY, FM MIZANUR RAHMAN AND SHARIFUL ISLAM contributed to this report]