Fire erupts as Jatrabari flyover drill hits gas pipe
Flames shoot up from a leaking Titas gas pipeline yesterday after a crack developed during drilling by the workers of Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover project. Photo: STAR
A huge fire broke out after workers at the under-construction Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover hit a gas supply pipe while drilling into the ground in the capital early yesterday. However, no casualty was reported. The raging flames from the damaged high pressure main of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited reached a height of over 100 feet and spread over an area of around 30 square feet. The heat from the fire, erupting at around 1:40am, soon damaged nearby electric poles, causing panic among the workers and local residents. Five fire fighting units from the Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters and Postogola tried in vain for over four hours to bring the fire under control. The fire went out only when Titas turned off the gas supply at around 6:00am, said Fire Service and Civil Defence Duty Officer Nazma Akhtar. Officials of the flyover's constructing company, Belhasa Accom and Associates Ltd, said they were working as per a map on the area's gas transmission pipe network provided by Titas. Titas suggested for manual checking to up to two metres below ground before starting drilling operations, they said. “We dug up more than two metres and found no gas pipes. Our drill hit the gas pipe four metres below ground,” said Belhasa Accom and Associates Ltd Managing Director Salman Karim. Titas officials said gas supply to the northern and southern portions of Jatrabari, Bibirbazar, Gopibagh, Swamibagh, Wari, Sayedabad, Tikatoli, Ramkrishna Mission and Avaydas Lane of the capital would remain suspended till the crack was repaired. They expressed hope to fix the crack within midnight last night.
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