Staff Reporter with Chattogram Bureau :
At least six people were killed and 50 others injured in an explosion in an oxygen plant in Kadm Rasul area under Sitakunda upazila in Chattogram district on Saturday afternoon.
One of the victims is Shamsul Alam, aged above 60, of the area. Identities of the remaining ones could not be known immediately.
Sitakuna Upazila Nirbahi Officer Shahadat Hossain said that the death toll in the fire reached to six until 7:15pm.
“Rescue operation is going on,” said Chattogram additional superintendent of police Abu Taib Mohammad Arif, adding, “The death toll might increase as a number of the victims were in critical condition.”
Chattogram Fire Service and Civil Defence deputy assistant director Abdul Hamid Mia said that the explosion occurred at around 4:30pm at the oxygen plant of Seema Re-Rolling Mill in Kadamrasulpur area of the port city.
Fire services deputy assistant director Shahjahan Shikder in a press release said that nine fire fighting units were working at the place to contain the fire and rescue the victims.
The release said that the military police were also called to tackle the situation.
Deceased Shamsul Alam’s son-in-law Mohammad Salahuddin said that that parts of a cylinder hit his father-in-law while he had been reading newspaper at a tea stall about 500 metre away from the oxygen plant.
He said that Shamsul was rushed to Chattogram Medical College Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.
Chattogram Superintendent of Police SM Shafiullah said, “Six bodies were recovered from the scene till 9pm.”
Meanwhile, Chattogram district administration has formed a seven-member committee to look into the incident of explosion the oxygen plant in Sitakunda.
Residents within a radius of up to two kilometers from the plant felt the tremor of the explosion.
Locals said they saw huge flames after they heard a huge bang at the plant.
Media reports add, the grief-stricken families of the victims of the explosion at Seema Oxygen Plant in Chittagong’s Sitakunda upazila on Saturday afternoon made the Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) atmosphere somber.
Five people have been reportedly killed in the fire, and dozens were injured. Officials said that 18 people have been admitted to CMCH.
They are Md Forkan, 33, Md Nur Hossain, 30, Md Motaleb, 52, Md Arafat, 22, Maksudul Alam, 60, Md Osman, 45, Md Solaiman, 40, Md Ripon, 40, Md Azad, 22, Ripon Marak, 60, Probesh, 40, Narayan Dhar, 64, Md Jasim, 50, Fency, 26, Md Zahed, 30, Mujibul Haque, 45, Rozy Begum, 20, and Nasim Shahriar, 26.
As ambulances brought in one injured person after another, families were seen visibly anxious.
The hospital was filled with a sad atmosphere as relatives wept for both the injured and the deceased.
Doctors at the hospital said several of them sustained injuries in their legs, some in their head, and others in their eyes. Most of them are in critical condition.
In this regard, CMCH Director Brigadier General Shamim Ahsan said they are preparing the Intensive Care Units (ICU) for the injured.
“The patients are being treated. Blood, saline, and all medicines are available. Patients are in the orthopedic, and burn units of the hospital,” he added.
NDC Touhidul Islam said that the district administration is providing necessary medicines for the treatment of the patients. Police have so far identified three of the deceased. They are Shamshul Alam, 65, Md Farid, 36, and Roton Lakhret, 45.
Shamshul Alam was killed after a 250-300kg metal object fell on him following the explosion.
He was reportedly sitting at a shop in Kadam Rasul Bazar, which is about one kilometer away from the oxygen plant. He is one of the five victims of the deadly fire incident.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Army joined the rescue operation to work alongside the Fire Service and Civil Defence.
6 killed, 50 injured in Sitakunda oxygen plant explosion
