What is the cause of death of so many firefighters?

Firefighters struggling to breathe amidst the toxic air during the rescue operationProthom Alo

The fire service and civil defence received the information about the fire at the BM Container Depot at 9.25pm on Saturday and two teams from Kumira and Sitakundu fire stations rushed to the spot to douse the fire. All the 26 members of these two teams had suffered casualties. The dead bodies of nine of them have been recovered of which one could not be identified. Three of them are missing. The remaining 14 are undergoing treatments at the hospital after being burnt.

Brigadier General Md Main Uddin, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence said never had so many firefighters been killed in an accident.

According to sources in the fire service, the depot authorities didn’t contact them. The members of the fire service went to the spot after the locals informed them about the fire.

At first, they speculated that there were different types of products in the containers, including garments. The depot authorities didn’t inform them that there were chemicals (hydrogen peroxide) even after the firefighters started the work to extinguish the fire. As a result, the people who were in the depot during the blast, could not return safely.

The fire broke out at the loading shed of BM Container Depot in Keshabpur area of ​​Sonaichhari Union in Sitakunda around 9.15pm on Saturday. At around 11.45pm, a chemical-laden container a short distance from the shed exploded with a loud noise.

A team of 15 people went to the spot from Kumira fire station to extinguish the fire first. The bodies of five of them have been recovered. They are Md Rana Mia from Manikganj, Moniruzzaman from Cumilla, Alauddin from Noakhali and Md Shakil Tarafder and Mithu Dewan from Rangamati. Two other workers of the team are missing. They are – Md Imran Hossain Majumder from Chandpur and Shafiul Islam from Sirajganj. Eight of them were injured.

There were 11 in the team that went to the spot from the Sitakundu fire station. The dead bodies of three of them have been recovered. They are – Nipon Chakma from Rangamati, Ramzanul Islam from Sherpur and Salauddin Qader Chowdhury from Feni. Besides, Rabiul Islam from Naogaon and Fariduzzaman from Rangpur are missing. Six members of the team are undergoing treatment at hospitals after receiving burn injuries.

According to the fire service, although the body of one of the four missing firefighters had been recovered, it could not be identified. It is being assumed that the rest of the three have been killed in the fire as well.

Meanwhile, some 10 members of Faujdarhat police outpost, who went to the spot to extinguish the fire, have been injured. The legs of one of the police members were severed in the blast.

Speaking to the newspersons at the spot on Sunday, fire service director general Brigadier General Md Main Uddin said, the depot authorities did not provide the fire service with any information regarding the types of chemicals were there in the container.

It is learned that the members of the first team reaching the spot were wearing only the fire suits where specialised chemical suits are required to fight the fire originated from chemicals. Fire fighters in these suits can extinguish the fire instigated from chemicals within just 10 to 15 minutes. In the later part of the rescue mission, the firefighters were seen wearing these suits.

Speaking to Prothom Alo at the spot on Sunday, Aktaruzzaman, deputy director of Fire Service and Civil Defence’s Cumilla zone, said, “Initially the members of Kumira and Sitakundu fire stations went to the spot in fire suits. As a result they are the most affected. We are investigating the matter in detail.”

According to fire service, a total of 183 members of 23 fire service units from four upazilas of Chattogram, Feni, Noakhali and Cumilla are engaged in the work to extinguish the fire at present.