BM Container Depot in Chittagong still burning, more chemical containers identified

BM Container Depot inland port (Photo: Pimple Barua/Dhaka Tribune)

The BM Container Depot in Chittagong is still on fire, and firefighters are asking reporters and port officials to stay away from the area for fear of new explosions as they have identified four more containers filled with chemicals near burning containers.

"We could be sure about the presence of chemicals in four more containers," Lt Col Ariful Islam Himel said while reporting to reporters outside the port gate.

“We are trying to move them to the safer places to avoid further blasts,” he noted.

Members from the Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force are supporting the fire brigade by providing manpower and equipment since Sunday morning to put out the deadliest and most devastating fire in history for inland container ports in this country.

Firefighters said they needed more time to bring the fire under control as they needed to work very carefully to avoid any further risks. Almost 46 hours have passed since the fire broke out at the BM Container Depot at 9pm on Saturday (local time).

"We are now trying to douse fire by opening containers with a special team of Bangladesh Army," said Monir Hossain, assistant director of the Department of Fire and Civil Defense.

Currently, mainly garments are burning inside the containers, he added.

However, health authorities have adjusted the death toll in the fire from 49 previously reported to 41, some of the injured are in serious condition in hospitals in Dhaka and Chittagong.

Meanwhile, Sweden-based fashion retailer H&M had 50,000 items in its container port that were burned to ashes in the fire. Ziaur Rahman, H&M's national director in Bangladesh, told a local newspaper that it would pay exporters for all their goods burned.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) have asked their members to notify the associations of the volume of goods they lost in this fire.

Meanwhile, fearing chemical incidents in container terminals, the Port Authority of Chittagong has moved all containers containing chemicals out of the port, especially those that have been stored there for a long time.

Read more:

• Container explosion in Chittagong: 49 dead and hundreds injured

Source: Phaata.com (According to ContainerNews)

Phaata - Vietnam's First Global Logistics Marketplace
► Find Better Freight Rates & Logistics Services