Probe committee finds owners, management authority of BM Depot to be ‘negligent’

The investigation committee formed by the Divisional Commissioner's Office in Chattogram has cited the negligence of the owners as well as the management authority of the BM Container Depot as the reason behind the fire accident that killed at least 44 people and injured 200.

The committee also said there was no chemical other than hydrogen peroxide at the BM Container Depot, says the probe report that was submitted to the Divisional Commissioner Md Ashraf Uddin around 5:30pm on Wednesday (6 July).

Additional Divisional Commissioner (Development) Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, who is the head of the investigation committee said, "We could not find any CCTV footage, no software. The depot authorities said they do not have any backup of these. This is a failure on the part of the owners, because in 2022 it does not coincide with modern management that there would be no backup of surveillance footage on cloud or any other safe place. Especially when a foreign national owns the depot."

"The owners must be held responsible for the accident. If there is a fire in my house I will have to take responsibility for it. However, those who oversaw the activities of the depot cannot avoid the fact that they were 'negligent'," he said responding to a question.

Also, stating that the fire originated from the hydrogen peroxide explosion, he said, "We have sent 17 types of samples to the Dhaka Lab of the Criminal Investigation Department for testing in connection with the BM Depot blast. No other chemical was found in the depot except hydrogen peroxide."

"The explosion was caused by hydrogen peroxide. The notion that hydrogen peroxide does not burn on its own is wrong because it can burn on its own," he said responding to a question.

The probe report submitted by the committee made 20 recommendations including giving importance to legal infrastructural requirements. It was also recommended to amend the DG Cargo Act, 1953, to make it compatible with the IMDG code.

On the night of 4 June, a fire broke out at the BM Container Depot in Sitakunda, Chattogram due to a chemical explosion which killed at least 44 people and injured 200.