Gas escaping at multiple points fuels an uncontained fire in Ukhiya

A fire fuelled by underground gas in Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhiya has continued to burn more than 24 hours after erupting during a deep tube-well installation, with fresh signs of gas escaping from several points around the site.

Experts from Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (BAPEX) said on Wednesday that the seepage was no longer confined to the borehole, raising concerns over how to contain the blaze.

SM Nafefun Arham, BAPEX’s geology manager and head of the geological survey team, said specialists had collected rock and water samples but could not safely gather gas samples.

They were weighing several options for the next steps as signs of gas leakage emerged at multiple locations.

Arham had earlier said laboratory analysis would be important in understanding the underground gas source and its characteristics.

Further exploration would be needed to establish the source and the size of any reserve.

The fire has also disrupted electricity supplies after exposure to the flames affected a 33-kilovolt transmission line serving parts of Ukhiya.

Engineer Kaizar Noor of the power department said the line supplied electricity to the Patowar Tek substation, which serves Patowar Tek, Chhota Inani, Shafir Bil, Baliyadangi, Monkhali and Shyamalapur.

With the area around the line posing a risk, crews began building an alternative 200-metre line from the opposite direction after consulting BAPEX experts.

Work started at 8am on Wednesday, with the aim of restoring power by the end of the day.

Noor said the equipment had not suffered direct damage, but the line could not remain operational because of the fire.

The gas began escaping on Tuesday morning while soil was being excavated in the yard of Mohammad Abdullah’s home in Chhota Inani.

Abdullah said the deep tube-well had been installed about 15 days earlier but had yielded no water.

Workers later left, and gas emerged before catching fire. Fire Service and Civil Defence personnel were called to the scene.