6 Pretty Group officials sued over cylinder explosion, death at Ashulia factory
The gas transportation and use system at Pretty Composite Textile Ltd in Ashulia was completely illegal and unsafe, officials from the Fire Service and the Department of Explosives have said.
A case has been filed against six officials of Pretty Group over the explosion of CNG gas cylinders and subsequent fire and death at the group's Pretty Industrial Park in Ashulia, Dhaka, on Sunday evening (20 September).
The case was filed against the six officials, along with 10 to 12 unidentified people, over the explosion of CNG gas cylinders that were being transported in a covered van through an unauthorised method, which left 8 people dead, several people injured and caused a fire at the factory premises.
Ashulia Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Abu Taleb filed the case as the complainant last night.
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Confirming the matter, Ashulia Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mohammad Tarikul Islam told The Business Standard, "A case of culpable homicide has been filed over the cylinder explosion at the Pretty Group factory premises. Sub-Inspector Abu Taleb filed the case as the complainant, naming six responsible officials of Pretty Group and 10 to 12 unidentified people as accused."
Police have not disclosed the names of the six Pretty Group officials named in the case.
However, a police source told TBS that the accused include managers and general managers holding responsible positions at Pretty Group's industrial park in the Jamgora area.
The gas transportation and use system at Pretty Composite Textile Ltd in Ashulia was completely illegal and unsafe, officials from the Fire Service and the Department of Explosives have said.
The factory, owned by Pretty Group and certified LEED Platinum by the US Green Building Council, was using specially installed CNG cylinders inside covered vans to transport gas before supplying it to a gas chamber inside the factory for boiler operations, according to officials.
Muhammad Mehedi Islam Khan, assistant inspector of explosives (Dhaka) at the Department of Explosives, told The Business Standard that the method was extremely risky and not permitted under any law or provision in the country.
He said the Department of Explosives regularly conducts drives at CNG stations to stop such practices, particularly in the Dhaka and Chattogram belts.
Hafizur Rahman, deputy assistant director (Zone-04) of the Fire Service and Civil Defence Department, who led the firefighting effort following Sunday's incident, said factory employees told firefighters that 12 covered vans at the compound had been fitted with cylinders for transporting gas.
"Each of these vehicles contained around 90 gas cylinders, which is extremely risky. From what we could gather immediately, gas was transported in the covered vans and then taken to a gas chamber inside the factory to be used in boiler operations," he told TBS.
A probe committee may be formed regarding the incident, he said, adding that details would likely be known after the investigation.
The practice of installing gas cylinders in covered vans and using the gas in industrial facilities is not new, according to relevant sources. Such gas has long been transported and used in industries across various industrial belts, including Savar and Ashulia in Dhaka.
The sources said some factory owners collect gas through such unsafe and illegal methods under the pretext of a gas crisis and use it for factory operations.
