Director General (DG) of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence Brigadier General Ali Ahmed Khan yesterday said that erroneous management and lack of maintenance were the prime reasons behind the explosion of gas tank at Dia Ammonia Phosphate (DAP) Fertilizer Company Limited in Anwara upazila upazila of the district, reports BSS from Chittagong. He said the DAP authority was found to have lacked its own safety measures and preparation to face the post-disaster situation.
“Water spray, the first step to contain gas spillage, could not be possible and the gas spread rapidly as the water spray system of the factory did not work properly”, the DG observed. He came up with the observations while talking to journalists at Deputy Commissioner’s conference room this afternoon. He said a great loss of lives, properties, ecology and environment could have been escaped as the gas spillage was against the wind, which blew the gas to the sea.
The Fire Service DG also underlined the importance of setting up more fire stations in industrial zones comprising of trained firemen to cope with such incident in future. Speaking on the occasion Deputy Commissioner Mejbah Uddin informed the journalists that the probe committee of the district administration headed by additional district magistrate has already prepared its report.
“We have found proof of huge faults in the factory and such a major accident would not have occurred if there were no negligence of duties of the DAP authority”, the DC said.
He also said the probe committee identified the persons responsible after talking to the locals and the report would be made public within seven days after submission of the other investigation report of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC).
An ammonia gas tank with 500 tonnes of capacity abruptly exploded at the factory at 11.30pm on Monday and people of adjacent areas and the city started feeling respiratory problems as poisonous ammonia spread across the banks of the river Karnaphuli after the blast.