Thirty days after the devastating fire at a container depot in Sitakunda, no visible legal action has been taken except for the filing of a case by the police.
The fire at BM Container Depot on June 4 left over 200 people injured and at least 49 dead, including 10 firefighters. The fire triggered multiple explosions allegedly due to hydrogen peroxide stored at the depot.
Fumes and smoke from the fire and explosion extended across a 2.5km radius, with an indirect impact up to 10km away, according to an estimate based on satellite images from US-based organization Zoom Earth.
Sitakunda police Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abul Kalam Azad said the case is being investigated.
“We cannot disclose anything right now for the sake of safeguarding the confidentiality,” he said.
The OC claimed that some of the accused in the case have fled and attempts are being made to arrest them.
Following the tragic incident, government high-ups warned of stern action against people involved in the incident.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on June 6 warned of stern action if proof of negligence was found against anyone at the BM Container Depot.
“No matter how powerful they are, strict action will be taken against them,” he said.
“If the depot owners are found to have been negligent, action will be taken after the committees tasked with probing the incident file their report,” the minister said.
A day after the minister’s remarks, Sitakunda police station Sub-Inspector Ashraf Siddiqui filed a complaint against eight people and a few unknown individuals, sparing the owners of the depot.
Chittagong south district Awami League Treasurer Muzibur Rahman, also the editor of the local daily Purbodesh, is a director while Dutch businessman Bert Pronk, who has other investments in Bangladesh, is the chairman of the container depot.
Mustafizur Rahman of the Smart Group of Industries is the managing director of the depot.
The eight people sued in the case were employees of BM Container Depot. They were identified as Deputy General Manager (Operations) Nurul Akhter Khan, Manager (Administration) Khaledur Rahman, General Manager Nazmul Akhter Khan, Assistant Administrative Officer Abbas Ullah, Senior Executive (Administration) Nasir Uddin, Assistant Manager Abdul Aaziz, Shed in-charge Saiful Islam and Depot Assistant in-charge Nazrul Islam.
Among them, DGM Nurul Akhter, who lost one of his hands in the explosion and is now undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Dhaka, was made the main accused in the case.
His relative Hannan Tareq told the Dhaka Tribune that he was not at the depot when the fire broke out.
“He (Nurul) returned home after duty that afternoon. He returned to the depot later that night after he came to know about the fire. While extinguishing the fire, a blast blew off his left arm. There are wounds throughout his body,” Hannan said.
The second accused in the case, Manager Khaledur, sustained 12% burns due to the explosion.
Khaledur was at home because he was not on duty at the time of the fire, said Khaledur's son-in-law Rakib Fahim.
“He went to the depot after hearing about the fire and attempted to put it out. An explosion burned 12% of his body. He was later infected with Covid-19 and is yet to recover,” he said, adding that Khaledur is now being treated at Sheikh Hasina Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka.
Police are yet to identify any more suspects in the fire incident. Six probe committees are all yet to complete their investigations.
