DHAKA, 9 January 2005 — A gas well in Tengratila field in northeastern Sunamganj district exploded early yesterday, forcing thousands of villagers to flee their homes.
The fire broke out late Friday after a gas leak during drilling of a new well, said M.R. Osmany, chairman of Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corp., a government regulatory body.
Local authorities used megaphones to warn hundreds of villagers to leave their homes as the blaze intensified and threatened to spread to the surrounding hilly areas, about 15 km from Sunamganj town. Staff members at the gas field were earlier evacuated.
About 30 engineers and workers — including some foreigners — were working at the site during the blow out, but none was reported injured, Osmany said. State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Co. Ltd., and Niko Resources Ltd., a Canadian exploration company, are in charge of prospecting in the field, 175 km northeast of the capital Dhaka.
Local firefighters were unable to control the blaze, Osmany said. A five-member team of experts from Niko Resources was heading to the site to seal the leakage and put out the fire, he added.
“We had managed to bring it down, but it flared up again this morning. The situation is going beyond control,” Osmany said. “The fire is burning upward, but there is a diesel reservoir on the site and we fear that if it goes up, it will be worse,” he said. Bangladesh has proven natural gas reserves of up to 15 trillion cubic feet (425 billion cubic meters). Foreign companies have invested millions of dollars to explore and produce gas, alongside state-run companies.
Meanwhile, Bangladeshi police were investigating reports that some exits of a garment factory in which at least 21 people died in a massive blaze were locked, leaving victims trapped inside. Eleven-year-old worker Shamol Hossen, who lost three relatives to the flames, said he and around 35 workers were trapped on the third floor as fire engulfed the building east of Dhaka during Thursday’s evening shift. “There were 35 people on my floor but the door up to the roof and the door going down to the second floor were both locked,” he said.
Three of the dead were found behind a locked door on the third floor, said fire brigade deputy assistant director Nurul Islam. The other bodies were found on the first and second floors, he said.
“The fire was like an inferno... (it) seemed to engulf the whole building.” Police said they were examining the reports some factory doors were locked.
“All we can say at the moment is that we have found 21 bodies and that we are investigating the circumstances of the fire,” said officerin- charge Mohammed Abdul Rashid.
Bystanders used bamboo ladders to reach the third floor and prized open a grille, allowing Shamol to escape. He used a knotted length of cloth to lower himself from the building but his cousin, sister and brotherin- law died.
Around 150 people were at work in the four-story Sun Knitting and Processing factory at Godnail, 20 km east of Dhaka, when the fire broke out.
Firefighters battled for over three hours to control the blaze, suspected to have been sparked by a short circuit. Some survivors were rescued by firefighters using ladders after clambering onto the roof of a neighboring building, eyewitness Harunur Rashid said. “They were trapped on the roof shouting for help,” he said.
The exact death toll was unclear with the fire brigade putting it at 22 and police at 21.
— Additional input from agencies
