BM Container Depot was handling flammable chemicals sans permission

BM Container Depot in Sitakunda — from where an explosion on Saturday resulted in a massive fire and killed dozens so far — did not have the necessary approval to store flammable chemicals, said Tofazzal Hossain, inspector, Department of Explosives, Chattogram.  

Tofazzal Hossain over the phone on Sunday confirmed the matter to the Business Insider Bangladesh from the scene of the accident.

“As per rules, to store any kind of chemical products or substances in container depots, permission must be obtained from the district commissioner, environment department and fire service,” Hossain explained.

Then, the explosives department reviews all the permissions and issues an approval, he further said. “However, BM Container Depot didn’t go through any of these processes.”

Hydrogen peroxide, which is suspected to have caused the blast, is a chemical compound that takes the form of a terrifying explosive when heated, Hossain explained.

Without heeding any approval, the owners stored this hazardous compound in the depot which is near localities, leading to the massive blast and a large number of causalities, the explosive inspector stated.

BM Container Depot Ltd, which is a Netherlands-Bangladesh joint venture company, has been in operation as an Inland Container Depot (ICD) since 2011. The ICD provides containerised services for export and import cargos.

The chairman of the depot is Dutch businessman Bert Pronk, who has other investments too in Bangladesh, while the managing director is Mustafizur Rahman of the Smart Group of Industries.

The Business Insider Bangladesh tried to get comments from Rahman, but his phone was switched off. Mujibur Rahman, a director of BM Container, was also contacted, but he did not pick up the call.

The fire broke out Saturday night following an explosion at BM Container Depot, around 40 km away from Chattogram. So far, at least 49 people have been killed and over 300 injured in the incident.