Two probe bodies formed; authorities says gas leak under control
Locals take dead fish out of a water-body near a DAP fertiliser factory at Anwara in Chittagong after ammonia gas leaked from one of its tanks. The photo was taken on Tuesday.
About 100 people fell sick by inhaling ammonia leaked from a tank of the state-owned Di-Ammonium Phosphate Fertilizer Company Ltd in Chittagong on Monday night.
Fifty-two of the sick people were admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital and 45 of them were at the hospital till Tuesday evening while fire service and company officials said that the leaking was almost under control.
Two committees were formed to investigate the incident and the committees visited the spot asked authorities to ensure that the water sprayed to dilute the leaked ammonia in the air could not flow to the Bay of Bengal untreated.
At about 1:00pm on Tuesday, about 15 hours after the incident, fire fighters declared the situation out of danger. The density of leaked ammonia gas in air decreased gradually as they continuously sprayed water to dilute the gas.
After inspecting the factory premises, fire service director general brigadier general Mohammad Ali at a briefing said, ‘It is now out of danger…There is no more risk.’
An ammonia tank of the country’s lone Di-ammonium phosphate fertilizer factory at Rangadia of Anwara upazila leaked the gas at about 10:00pm on Monday and the gas immediately spread in nearby areas including Chittagong city’s Patenga and Halishahar, leaving about 100 sick.
Doctors at Chittagong Medical College Hospital said that 52 of the affected people were admitted to the hospital and seven of them were released on Tuesday while the rests were also doing well.
The leaked ammonia gas would cause damage to bio-diversity of the locality near the factory, experts said.
Huge fishes were seen dead in nearby lakes and ponds.
Fire service officials said that 12 fire engines rushed to the spot and sprayed water in the air to dilute the leaked ammonia gas.
The fire service chief said that they would continue their efforts, including spraying of water, until the gas leak was fully controlled.
Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation chairman Mohammad Iqbql told reporters that the concentration of ammonia gas in the air was recorded at 600 parts per million within 140 metres of the place of occurrence at 3:00am while the standard (tolerable) amount was 25 ppm.
The concentration of ammonia gas was, however, recorded at 20 ppm at 9:00am, he claimed. ‘It showed that the presence of ammonia in the air became normal,’ he added.
‘Primarily we suspect that it was an accident…A highly skilled 10-member technical team was formed to investigate the reason and damage of the incident and the committee will detect the actual reason,’ said Iqbal.
The committee, headed by corporation’s director (technical and engineering) Md Ali Akkas, was asked to submit its report in three working days.
Iqbal said that they contacted with the Chinese contractor, who set up the tank, and sought technical support.
Chittagong district administration also formed a three-member probe committee headed by additional district magistrate Md Mominur Rashid soon after the incident.
Chittagong deputy commissioner Mesbah Uddidn said that committee was asked to submit its report in seven working days.
Both the committees visited the factory on Tuesday. Committee members said that they asked the authorities concerned to ensure that no water sprayed to dilute the leaked ammonia gas flowed to the sea or river before being treated properly.
The total capacity of the two units of the factory is about 1,600 tonnes. They were, however, producing highest 1,000 tonnes of fertilizer per day, factory officials said.
‘Now the production of the factory is totally stopped for the accident. We will make a decision to go for further production after getting the technical committee report,’ said the corporation chairman.
Local people said that they heard a big bang from the factory and soon after the bang toxic gas spread in the area. Most of the local people left the area. Some jumped into water to get respite from the gas.
They said that an explosion took place at the factory.
Factory managing director Amal Kanti Barua said that there were three ammonia tanks at the factory. The mother tank can contain 5,000 tonnes of ammonia while each of the rest two contains 500 tonnes.
One of the two small tanks leaked, crashed and it was displaced about 50 feet away, Amal said, adding that the tank contained about 250 tonne ammonia.
He said that the factory was closed during the accident. About 30 workers were present at the time and most of them became sick inhaling leaked ammonia gas. Eight of them were sent to hospital, the official added.
Source: New Age