A massive fire that erupted at the S Alam Refined Sugar Industries warehouse in Chittagong on Monday afternoon continued to burn for over 41 hours, despite firefighting efforts, reported Dhaka Tribune.
As of 10 am on Wednesday, the firefighting teams are still grappling with the burning sugar inside the factory, and according to Md Abdul Malek, Assistant Director of Chittagong Fire Service, more time is required to fully extinguish it. The warehouse, spanning around 25,000 square feet and towering to the height of a 5-6 storey building, housed significant quantities of raw sugar, contributing to the prolonged firefighting operation.
Malek stated, “The fire is under control, and it will not spread from here. We are working to completely extinguish the fire.” The initial outbreak occurred at S Alam Sugar Mill in the Icha Nagar area of Karnaphuli upazila around 4 pm on Monday. Although it was brought under control after approximately six and a half hours at around 10:30 pm, the challenge of fully extinguishing the blaze persists.
Md Hossain, Human Resource Officer of S Alam Group, stated, “The fire originated in warehouse number 1, where we had over 100,000 tons of raw sugar. The entire stock has been consumed by the fire, with an estimated market value of thousands of crores of taka.”
In response to the incident, a seven-member investigation committee was promptly formed on Monday night, led by the Additional District Magistrate. Karnaphuli Upazila Nirbahi Officer Masuma Jannat confirmed the formation of the committee to probe the fire.
The firefighting efforts have seen the collaboration of various agencies, including 100 members of the Bangladesh Army, two 12-member teams from the Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Air Force, Bangladesh Coast Guard, RAB, and the police.
According to the factory authorities, the destruction of 100,000 tons of unrefined sugar stored in the warehouse has resulted in a total estimated loss of Tk1,400 crore.
