Fire yet to be doused at S Alam sugar mill after 41 hours

The fire that broke out at the warehouse of S Alam Refined Sugar Industries in Chittagong on Monday, could not be fully doused even after 41 hours.

PauseUnmuteLoaded: 62.82%Remaining Time -5:17Close Player

Till the filing of this report at 10am on Wednesday, firefighters are still trying to douse the blaze.

Chittagong Fire Service Assistant Director Md Abdul Malek said the sugar inside the factory was still burning and it would take more time to douse it.

He said: “The warehouse is about 25,000 square feet. The height is equivalent to a 5-6 storey building. There were huge storages of raw sugar, which is still burning. That is why it is taking takes time to put out the fire. But the fire is under control. The fire will not spread from here. We are trying to put out the fire completely.”

The fire broke out at S Alam Sugar Mill in Icha Nagar area of Karnaphuli upazila around 4pm on Monday.

It was brought under control about six and a half hours at around 10:30pm.

S Alam Group Human Resource Officer Md Hossain said: "We have a total of six warehouses at the same location. The fire broke out in warehouse number 1. It had more than 100,000 tons of raw sugar. All of which is burnt. The market value of which is more than thousands of crores of taka.”

A seven-member investigation committee was formed on Monday night headed by the Additional District Magistrate to investigate the fire incident, Karnaphuli Upazila Nirbahi Officer Masuma Jannat confirmed the matter.

A total of 100 members of Bangladesh Army, two 12-member teams of Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Air Force, Bangladesh Coast Guard, RAB, and police assisted in extinguishing the fire at S Alam Refined Sugar Industries.

The factory authorities claimed that 100,000 tons of unrefined sugar stored in their warehouse was destroyed in the fire. The total loss has been estimated at Tk1,400 crore.