Sitakunda fire: No compensation paid yet by depot owners despite commitment

Families of those killed and injured have not yet received any compensation pledged by the BM container depot owners even 10 days after the fire and explosion at Sitakunda in Chattogram.

The depot owners – Smart Group – announced that they would pay 'proper' compensation to the victims and their families after the 4 June fire incident.

In a media statement sent on 7 June, Smart Group authorities declared that they would give Tk10 lakh to each of the families of the dead, Tk6 lakh to victims who have lost organs and Tk4 lakh to other injured people.

Besides, the Smart Group also announced that they would give the families of the deceased Tk15 lakh and the injured Tk7 lakh each.        

The relatives of the victims, however, alleged that the owners of the BM depot are not honouring their promises.

No compensation has been paid for the dead while a negligible amount was sent to some of the depot employees through Bkash.  

Of these employees, the security in-charge Abdus Samad (former sergeant of Bangladesh Army), who is undergoing treatment at the CMH, has received the highest amount of Tk6,000 on his wife's Bkash account. 

The rest of the injured got a compensation amount ranging between Tk3,000 and Tk5,000.

The BM container depot authorities did not even inquire about the condition of the vehicle mechanical department staff Nurul Kader who was fighting for his life in the ICU for nine days. 

He, at last, succumbed to burn injuries on Sunday.  

Nurul Kader's elder brother Ruhul Kader told The Business Standard that they received a total of Tk75,000 from the district administration and a political party during the last nine days. But the depot owners for whom Nurul Kader used to work did not even ask about his condition. 

ATM Rezaul Karim, managing director of Parkview Hospital, said that 11 injured victims including Nurul Kader were admitted to the hospital on 4 June. The hospital authorities have done whatever they could do. The depot owners did not inquire about the victims admitted there, he added.  

When asked, Smart Group General Manager Major (retd) Shamsul Haider Siddiqui told TBS that they have already formed a Tk4 crore compensation fund to help the victims' families. But the district administration is looking into the issue of the appropriate person to receive the compensation.

"We will pay the money after they (district administration) give us the list," he said.

The deputy commissioner of Chattogram, the senior assistant commissioner and the district relief and rehabilitation officer could not be reached on mobile phones despite frequent attempts to contact them to learn about the issue.      

Earlier, the disaster management ministry announced to pay Tk1 crore in cash as humanitarian assistance to the victims of the fire incident along with the affected people soon after the accident took place. General people of Chattogram alongside various organisations helped the victims by providing food, medicine and blood.    

Remains of another person found

The police and fire service people recovered the remains of another person from the BM container depot on Monday, 10 days after the fire and explosion, raising the total number of dead to 49.

The body remains were found Monday afternoon when the employees were removing some of the damaged containers from the depot, BM container depot GM Major (retd) Shamsul Haider Siddiqui told TBS. 

After the body remains were found, the staff immediately informed the fire service and the police about its recovery, he added.   

The fire service announced an end to the 98 hours of operation on Thursday after the fire incident took place on 4 June and handed it over to the depot authorities to resume regular activities. The remains of three more persons were recovered since then.