20,000 tonnes of sugar damaged in S Alam sugar mill fire: Official

Some 20,000 tonnes of sugar were destroyed in the fire that ravaged a warehouse of S Alam Group's sugar refinery factory in Chattogram on 4 March, a senior official of the conglomerate said.

After the incident, the group claimed that the fire caused the loss of 100,000 tonnes of sugar.

M Akhtar Hossain, general manager (commercial) of S Alam Group, told TBS yesterday that 20,000 tonnes of sugar were damaged in the fire. 

According to MD Abdul Malek, an assistant director of Fire Service, the fire could not be fully doused until Thursday night. "It will take some more time to completely douse it," he told TBS.

Members of a probe committee formed by the district administration visited the site of the incident yesterday.

Led by Additional District Magistrate of Chattogram District Administration Mamunur Rahman, the committee is investigating the cause of the fire, assessing damages, and making recommendations to prevent similar accidents in the future.

The committee has been instructed to complete the inquiry and submit its report within the next seven working days.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environment yesterday formed a committee to assess the environmental impact caused due to the fire in Chattogram.