At least 11 individuals sustained injuries following an explosion that took place this morning at the Starship factory owned by Abul Khair Group in the Oxygen area of Chattogram.
The incident occurred at approximately 10:50 am within a room dedicated to the manufacturing of bottles for liquefied products, as confirmed by officials from both the fire service and the company.
Abdul Mannan, the assistant director of the fire service in Chattogram, informed The Daily Star that four firefighting units promptly responded to the scene upon receiving the report. By noon, they successfully brought the resulting blaze under control.
Upon the arrival of the firefighters, the factory management had already rescued the injured workers and promptly transported them to nearby hospitals, as stated by Mannan.
The identities of the injured individuals were not immediately ascertainable.
Imrul Kader Bhuiyan, the deputy general manager of Abul Khair Group, attributed the explosion to a fire ignited by an electrical short circuit. He mentioned that the injured were swiftly taken to the group’s private hospital, where eight were discharged post primary treatment, while three continue to receive medical care.
In response to circulating social media reports suggesting a boiler explosion, Imrul Kader clarified that government officials visited the factory for inspection and refuted these claims.
He stated, “A false narrative was propagated on social media alleging a boiler explosion, which is entirely baseless.”
Contradicting this, fire service official Abdul Mannan emphasized that the precise cause of the explosion is still under investigation.
“While our initial assessment points towards a machinery-related explosion within the factory premises, a thorough investigation is ongoing,” Mannan added.
