Explosion due to weakness in hazardous material management

Weaknesses in the management of hazardous materials, including chemicals, led to the devastating explosion at the BM Depot in Sitakunda, Chattogram. This was revealed in the inquiry committee report of the Chittagong Port Authority.

The report stated that containers with hazardous materials, including chemicals, were stored alongside containers containing garments and other export items. If the hazardous materials had been kept separately, there would not have been so many deaths. Even if these containers had been shifted to safety when the smoke first appeared, the situation wouldn’t have gone out of control.

According to the inquiry report, there were matchboxes lying here and there in the depot. The officers in charge of safety and security cannot avoid responsibility. While there were fire extinguishers at the depot, there were no fire hydrants to supply water. There were also no adequately trained people at the depot to extinguish the fire. Had there been trained people, the situation could have been bravely handled.

Weaknesses in the management of hazardous materials, including chemicals, led to the devastating explosion at the BM Depot in Sitakunda, Chattogram. This was revealed in the inquiry committee report of the Chittagong Port Authority.

The report stated that containers with hazardous materials, including chemicals, were stored alongside containers containing garments and other export items. If the hazardous materials had been kept separately, there would not have been so many deaths. Even if these containers had been shifted to safety when the smoke first appeared, the situation wouldn’t have gone out of control.

According to the inquiry report, there were matchboxes lying here and there in the depot. The officers in charge of safety and security cannot avoid responsibility. While there were fire extinguishers at the depot, there were no fire hydrants to supply water. There were also no adequately trained people at the depot to extinguish the fire. Had there been trained people, the situation could have been bravely handled.

The inquiry committee suspects that the explosion that ripped apart 100 containers in the depot, is a sabotage or a subversive attack. They said that hydrogen peroxide does not self ignite. It is only ignited when in touch with fire. However, it can be set on fire in temperatures of 150 degrees and over.

The day after the incident, a three-member inquiry committee was formed, headed by the Chittagong Port terminal manager Md Kudrat-e-Khuda. The committee was tasked with determining the cause of the mishap, determining the responsibility for this incident, and coming up with recommendations to prevent such incidents in future.

A total of 49 persons, including fire service men, were killed in the fire that broke out on 4 June night at the BM depot in Sitakunda. And over 100 were injured. One part of the depot was reduced to rubble. After the accident, several inquiry committees were formed, one each by the Chattogram Divisional Commissioner, the district administration, the fire service, the Chittagong Port, and the customs authority. The depot authorities also carried out an inquiry. Other than the Chittagong Port, no one has submitted any inquiry report as yet.

According to the inquiry committee report, during the time of the accident, there were 37 containers of hydrogen peroxide of Al Razi Chemical Complex (owned by two partners of BM Depot). These containers were kept at the depot for export. The depot authorities said that even after the accident, 12 containers were still intact.

The inquiry report has also placed blame on Al Razi Chemical Complex for the accidents. Al Razi Chemicals is a company of Smart Group. Smart Group also has ownership of BM Depot. The inquiry report said that problems had cropped up over export of the hydrogen peroxide. These containers were supposed to have been returned from the depot to the factory on 2 June. This was not done.

Again, the jars in which the hydrogen peroxide was stored, did not have international UN certification, though it is compulsory to use such jars for hazardous chemicals like hydrogen peroxide. So Al Razi cannot avoid blame for the accident.

The inquiry committee, broadly, put forward four recommendations to avoid such accidents in future. These include preparing a hazardous materials management policy. Only those depots with the proper capacity will be given permission for hazardous materials management. It was also recommended that hazardous materials be stored in safe places.

The inquiry committee said that fire hydrants must be set up in all depots for fire extinguishing purposes. All depots must be no-smoking zones and this must be strictly enforced. The committee also recommended that the depots coordinate with the nearest fire stations and arrange the required training.

It also recommended that steps be taken to ensure that the government institutions like Bangladesh Navy and the Chittagong Port, be kept updated about the export goods management.

It recommended that further investigations be carried out to determine if this was an active of sabotage or a subversive act.

No concerned official of Chittagong Port was willing to comment on the report.

The BM Container Depot was established in Chattogram in 2011 with an investment of Tk 1.5 billion (Tk 150 crore) from the Netherlands and Bangladesh. The chairman of the depot is a Dutch national, Bert Pronk. Mustafizur Rahman is the managing director. Managing director of Smart Jeans, Mujibur Rahman, is the director. Mustafizur Rahman and Mujibur Rahman are brothers. Mujibur Rahman is the treasurer of Chittagong South Awami League.

Commenting about the inquiry report, BM Depot spokesperson Maj. (retd) Shamsul Haider Siddiqui, told Prothom Alo on Sunday, many criteria of hazardous material management were being followed from beforehand. There was fire extinguishing equipment and water reservoir at the depot. Smoking was prohibited. But water hydrants were in the process of being set up. Now the process has began to ensure all the conditions are met. Once these are ensured, then the depot will resume operations.

One month on from the accident at the Sitakunda depot, export of the undamaged containers of readymade garments and food products has begun. Already many of the containers have been shifted from the depot to the port and have been loaded onto the vessels.

Customs commissioner Md Fakhrul Alam, speaking to Prothom Alo, said permission is being given for the export of undamaged goods in the depot.

156 containers damaged, 814 undamaged

After the explosion, fire service officials told Prothom Alo that around 100 containers had been burnt in the fire. The port inquiry report also stated 100 containers had been ripped apart at the depot.

After the explosion, BM deport carried out a scrutiny of the losses and drew up a list. This showed that 154 of the containers for export had been damaged. But 398 of the containers for export were undamaged. Of the 418 containers of imported goods, only two had been damaged.

Speaking to Prothom Alo about the Chittagong Port Authority’s inquiry report, research director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Khandakar Golam Moazzem said that it was very positive that the inquiry report of a government establishment has highlighted the weakness in hazardous material management. But the problem is, one organisation does not want to heed the recommendations of another organisation in our country. When all the organisations submit their inquiry reports regarding the Sitakunda incident, the government should carry out a high level review of these. Then the government should give a particular authority the responsibility of ensuring the urgent recommendations are implemented immediately.

* This report appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir