Sitakunda oxygen plant blast: Lax monitoring, lack of safety gear to blame

The absence of workers' safety equipment and a lack of inspections of heavy machinery are to blame for Sunday's explosion at the Sheema Oxygen Plant in Sitakunda's Keshabpur, said probe officials.

The probe committee, headed by Additional Deputy Magistrate Rakib Hasan, went to the site yesterday and found no fire hydrant system, helmets or other safety gear.

There was no certified engineer to monitor the fitness of the machinery and equipment. That role was carried out by skilled workers who had knowledge of operating the machinery, said Md Tofazzal Hossain, explosive inspector in Chattogram.

One of the valves in the 'column' of the oxygen line had heavy gas pressure, which was noticed by a worker. But they did not know if the pressure would be released automatically or not.

"While handling the valve, something went wrong and it triggered the explosion," Hossain said.

Besides, the plant's explosive licence had expired last year, he added.

The licence from the Department of Environment had also expired on August 28 last year and was not renewed, according to Ashraf Uddin, assistant director for Chattogram district's DoE.

But Sheema Group maintains all its papers are up-to-date and the plant had all kinds of fire extinguisher tools.

"It was an accident during operation. Please don't blame us," said Md Najim Uddin, a director of Sheema Group, which operates two oxygen factories, steel re-rolling mills and shipbreaking yards at Sitakundu.

No case was filed in connection with the deadly explosion as of 6:00pm, Tofayel Ahmed, the officer-in-charge of Sitakunda Model Police Station, told The Daily Star.

Meanwhile, another Sitakundu blast victim Probesh Lal Sharma, 55, who was undergoing treatment at the ICU of CMCH, died around 11:35pm, said CMCH Director Brig Gen Shamim Ahsan.

The factory owners were missing and there was no contact from them after the incident, said Abul Bashar Md Fakhruzzaman, deputy commissioner of Chattogram District.

Abdul Alim, managing director of Sheema Oxygen, arrived at the site 19 hours after the incident, which claimed seven lives and injured more than 25 persons.

"It is not true that we were missing -- we were busy with ensuring treatment for the injured in various hospitals. Our priority was to rush the injured to the hospitals to save their lives and we did that," said Najim, also the MD of Sheema Steel Re-rolling Mills.

Sheema Group will bear all the treatment costs of the injured and financially support the family of the deceased, he said.

"We are not sure how the incident took place but we will compensate the deceased and injured," Alim said.

Meanwhile, the blast also damaged two nearby factories -- Harun Steel Re-Rolling Mill and Rubaiya Oxygen Plant -- bringing their production to a halt. So ferocious was the explosion at around 4:40 pm on Sunday that the factories' walls and machinery were blown away.

The blast affected the electricity line causing a power cut in the Keshabpur area. Sheema Oxygen plant's roof blew off and large chunks of steel and iron flew in all directions, damaging numerous buildings and vehicles.