Explosion of 'gas line booster', not boiler, caused Tampaco fire, Titas now suspects

A booster machine explosion, and not the boiler explosions caused the deadly fire at Tampaco Foils Factory in Tongi, Titas Gas officials now suspect after initial investigation.

Immediately after the explosion it was thought that a boiler explosion might have caused the devastating fire which claimed 34 lives and left 40 others injured, many of them seriously.

“Two boilers of the factory were found to be intact,” boiler inspector Md Sharafat Ali told bdnews24.com on Tuesday.

A member of the investigation committee formed by the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company to investigate the Tampaco fire revealed the new findings of their investigation on Tuesday. The committee was formed on Sept 15, five days after the explosion.

"Not the boiler explosion, there was another reason behind the fire," Ali said adding “it was the explosion in the booster machine that caused such devastation.”

Titas official alleges Tampaco had set up one of the two boilers without permission of the Office of the Chief Inspector of Boilers.

Death toll rises to 35

Contrary to Titas official’s comments, Tampaco Foils Assistant Engineer (Mechanical) Md Nayan Uddin said he knew nothing about any booster machine to pull gas in the factory.

Manager of the state-run gas distributor company, Ajit Chandra Deb, told reporters that Tampaco had also set up a 'booster pump machine illegally' to extract gas from the pipeline.

Titas officials said the factory might have set up the booster to pull gas needed for the unauthorized extra boiler and a thermo fluid heater.

General Manager for Dhaka Metro North of Titas Gas, Rana Akbar Haider, who is heading the three-member panel, also expressed the same suspicion.

He, however, declined to provide further details before the investigation ends.

"We'll say everything in our report," he said without giving any date when the investigation might complete.

Fire Service investigation panel's head Deputy Director Badiuzzaman also refused to comment about the investigation saying that "we are speaking to experts."

Tampaco remained open even in the night while the other factories in Tongi's BSCIC Industrial City were closed during the Eid-ul-Azha holidays.

Tampaco Foils Assistant Engineer Uddin said the boilers at the factory were shut when the explosion took place early in the morning.

He said the gas line might have exploded due to excessive pressure of gas.

The factory's Production Officer Habibur Rahman said the factory used several types of adhesives, including ethyl acetate. He said there would be no reason for the chemicals to catch fire without any spark.

He also suspects a pipe in the gas substation of the factory might have exploded leading to the fire.

"We had heard early in the morning that a pipe had leaked. The accident had occurred before the Titas officials arrived," he added.

Tampaco Foils owner former BNP MP Syed Md Moqbul Hossain is accused of culpable homicide in two cases filed after the incident.

Gazipur police said they found negligence of the authorities in the factory fire.