A team of experts from the Bangladesh Army has identified four containers carrying chemicals at the depot where a devastating fire and explosions killed at least 41 people in Chattogram's Sitakunda.
They moved the chemical containers to a safe distance, said Lt Col Ariful Islam, an officer of the 24th Infantry Division in Chattogram, after his visit to the depot on Monday, reports bdnews24.com.
In addition to the firefighting efforts and the rescue operation, the army was working to contain chemical pollution of the sea after the massive fire erupted at the privately run BM Container Depot on Saturday night.
The fire was not completely doused on Monday, with small flames continuing to burn some containers.
"The fire is under control but smoke is billowing from the containers carrying fabrics," said Lt Col Ariful.
"We are working with the fire service to put out the flames. We hope to douse the flames soon if they do not spread further. But we have no specific idea about the time." More than 200 army personnel joined the civil administration to douse the flames on Sunday.
There were 4,300 containers at the 24-acre depot when the blaze started. About 3,000 of these containers were empty, while the rest held goods for import and export.
Some of the containers had hydrogen peroxide produced by the Al Razi Chemical Complex, owned by BM Container Depot Director Mujibur Rahman. The fire service believes the chemical was the main cause of the fire’s intensity.
The army could not confirm if there were any chemicals other than hydrogen peroxide and the volume of the chemicals stored in the containers.
"The nature of the chemical is not determined yet because many of the depot officials have suffered heavy casualties," Ariful said.
It was unclear whether the depot had the authorisation or proper safety system to store chemicals. An explosives inspector in the port city said the authorities of BM Container Depot did not have proper authorisation to store chemical agents in the facility, which directly contradicted with the depot officials’ earlier claim that they did have paperwork for storing such materials.
