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Bangladesh Container Depot Fire: ‘Gone in front of my eyes’; Bangladesh firefighter’s unit decimated by blast | World News
SITAKUNDA: The engine of firefighter Rakibul Hasan Bappy who was the first to arrive at the scene of the fire General container warehouse Bangladesh. After a devastation explodeall others of his 15-man crew are now dead, missing or injured.
22 years old – who participated On fire service three years ago – was ordered to increase the water pressure before the monumental explosion lit up the night sky for miles around.
He walked over to the fire truck, only to be confronted when he was turned back by carnage and the corpses of friends and comrades.
“I will never forget this until I die,” a shaky Bappy told AFP, recalling the scene at the weekend’s catastrophic explosion.
“All those colleagues, disappeared before my eyes. We were full of energy to work, but when I saw them dead, I don’t know how to describe it. I don’t feel right anymore.
“God gave me a second life,” he added. “I can’t believe I’m alive.”
Firefighters in Bangladesh poorly equipped and underpaid – wages start at $200 a month – compared to some private jobs or military soldiers who may be sent on United Nations peacekeeping missions Country.
But for rural families, a government job is a one-way ticket out of poverty, which entails steady and steady increases in wages and pensions for workers and their spouses.
Tens of thousands of people apply each year for the firefighter test and Bappy, the only child of a farming family in the northern district of Mymensingh, considers himself the “luckiest” man in the village when get this job.
“For my parents and I, it was the proudest moment,” he said. “I feel proud because I know I can serve the country.”
Posting for Kumira, in Chittagong he befriended rookies Mohammad Rana Mia and Moniruzzaman. Both men were killed over the weekend, their bodies ripped apart by the explosion.
“They are my best friends, and we are more than a family,” Bappy said.
“We worked so many nights together. They were from the same background as me. I know how tragic their deaths were for their poor family.”
Kumira is just 8 kilometers (five miles) from the BM Container Depot in Sitakunda, where the fire broke out on Saturday night.
Authorities allege facility operators failed to notify firefighters that volatile hydrogen peroxide was stored on site and that when they accidentally used it with water, the cache of chemicals was explosive.
Five of Bappy’s crew members have been confirmed dead, two missing and feared dead, and the remaining seven all critically injured, have been flown by military helicopter to Bangladesh’s best hospital for treatment. treatment of burn victims.
Local media say Kumira firefighters are not trained in chemical fires, which require complex firefighting equipment – not readily available at their stations – and careful handling.
Purnachandra Mutsuddi, a regional fire official, said: “The general warehouse did not tell us that there were chemicals near the boxes of clothes.
If they had known, he added, “We would never have sent our fire brigade to throw water on the fire. Now our young brothers are dead.”
A total of more than 40 people were killed, including at least nine firefighters, making it the service’s worst-ever disaster in the nation.
Bangladesh’s infrastructure has long been poor, but the country’s economy is now booming, a combination that keeps firefighters busy with frequent fires in factories and buildings. floor.
Famously, the Rana Plaza garment factory complex in Dhaka collapsed in 2013 killing more than 1,100 people. Authorities later discovered it had been built as a floating building and was in compliance with fire safety laws.
More recently, 54 people died in a factory fire last July.
Bappy remained on duty at the station on Monday, where colleague Riad Hossain – part of the reinforcement team for the fire – recalled chatting with Rana immediately before he responded to the emergency call and go to his death.
“I can’t believe they’re gone now,” Riad said, tears in her eyes.
22 years old – who participated On fire service three years ago – was ordered to increase the water pressure before the monumental explosion lit up the night sky for miles around.
He walked over to the fire truck, only to be confronted when he was turned back by carnage and the corpses of friends and comrades.
“I will never forget this until I die,” a shaky Bappy told AFP, recalling the scene at the weekend’s catastrophic explosion.
“All those colleagues, disappeared before my eyes. We were full of energy to work, but when I saw them dead, I don’t know how to describe it. I don’t feel right anymore.
“God gave me a second life,” he added. “I can’t believe I’m alive.”
Firefighters in Bangladesh poorly equipped and underpaid – wages start at $200 a month – compared to some private jobs or military soldiers who may be sent on United Nations peacekeeping missions Country.
But for rural families, a government job is a one-way ticket out of poverty, which entails steady and steady increases in wages and pensions for workers and their spouses.
Tens of thousands of people apply each year for the firefighter test and Bappy, the only child of a farming family in the northern district of Mymensingh, considers himself the “luckiest” man in the village when get this job.
“For my parents and I, it was the proudest moment,” he said. “I feel proud because I know I can serve the country.”
Posting for Kumira, in Chittagong he befriended rookies Mohammad Rana Mia and Moniruzzaman. Both men were killed over the weekend, their bodies ripped apart by the explosion.
“They are my best friends, and we are more than a family,” Bappy said.
“We worked so many nights together. They were from the same background as me. I know how tragic their deaths were for their poor family.”
Kumira is just 8 kilometers (five miles) from the BM Container Depot in Sitakunda, where the fire broke out on Saturday night.
Authorities allege facility operators failed to notify firefighters that volatile hydrogen peroxide was stored on site and that when they accidentally used it with water, the cache of chemicals was explosive.
Five of Bappy’s crew members have been confirmed dead, two missing and feared dead, and the remaining seven all critically injured, have been flown by military helicopter to Bangladesh’s best hospital for treatment. treatment of burn victims.
Local media say Kumira firefighters are not trained in chemical fires, which require complex firefighting equipment – not readily available at their stations – and careful handling.
Purnachandra Mutsuddi, a regional fire official, said: “The general warehouse did not tell us that there were chemicals near the boxes of clothes.
If they had known, he added, “We would never have sent our fire brigade to throw water on the fire. Now our young brothers are dead.”
A total of more than 40 people were killed, including at least nine firefighters, making it the service’s worst-ever disaster in the nation.
Bangladesh’s infrastructure has long been poor, but the country’s economy is now booming, a combination that keeps firefighters busy with frequent fires in factories and buildings. floor.
Famously, the Rana Plaza garment factory complex in Dhaka collapsed in 2013 killing more than 1,100 people. Authorities later discovered it had been built as a floating building and was in compliance with fire safety laws.
More recently, 54 people died in a factory fire last July.
Bappy remained on duty at the station on Monday, where colleague Riad Hossain – part of the reinforcement team for the fire – recalled chatting with Rana immediately before he responded to the emergency call and go to his death.
“I can’t believe they’re gone now,” Riad said, tears in her eyes.
