We express our deep sorrow and grave concern at the death of nearly 50 people, including 9 firefighters, and injuries to about 500 people, due to explosions and fire caused by burning “undeclared” or “wrongly labelled” hydrogen peroxide. The chemical was stored at a container depot, which had thousands of containers holding readymade garments near the Chittagong Port in Bangladesh. The media reported that the cause of the disaster was the laxity of fire and safety regulations, the willful negligence and disregard of whatever regulations are there, for illicit financial gains. CHRD Bangladesh strongly urges the authorities in Bangladesh and the national and international regulatory agencies for industrial safety to intervene and ensure the safety of the workers and other people involved. We also urge the government and industrialists to pay adequate compensation to the families of the deceased and the injured. Although compensations have been announced, the amounts should be determined by the authorities and the welfare organizations (workers’ unions, NGOs, etc.) concerned, together.
Bangladesh has a history of industrial and other disasters, and repeatedly the alarm bells rang on the laxity of safety regulations and their implementations. Notably, most of these disasters took place during the present Awami League regime, which most people call illegal because it came through a fraudulent election processes over the past more than a decade; and, in most cases, people belonging to the ruling coterie were involved.
The largest of these disasters occurred in April 2013 when 1,132 people were killed as the 8 story building of the Rana Plaza garments factory collapsed. In 2012, 117 people were killed in a garment factory due to fire. In 2010, 123 people were killed when a house, storing chemicals, caught fire. In 2019, 67 people were killed in a blaze, which ripped through apartments, shops and warehouses of an old and cramped area. Last year, 52 people were killed due to fire at a food and drink factory.
Thus, there have been a great deal of lessons to be learnt from these disasters. But the present explosion and fire at the container depot shows that much has not yet been learnt on fire and safety regulations, although many industrialists have gradually been adopting international standards in this regard.
CHRD Bangladesh urges all concerned to consider the present disaster as a renewed wakeup call to prevent any other disasters waiting to happen. We urge the government and the industrialists to work with workers’ unions, NGOs and international fire and safety agencies to implement international standards of fire and safety regulations in Bangladesh. This is extremely important as Bangladesh is gradually advancing towards industrialization.