A fire triggered by underground gas spewing from a deep tube-well during drilling in the tourist area of Inani, under Ukhiya upazila of Cox’s Bazar, has remained uncontrolled.
The fire continues to burn till the filing of this report, with increased gas emissions after evening causing the flames to spread wider and triggering panic among local residents and staff at nearby hotels.
A team of technical experts from Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (Bapex) inspected the site and is scheduled to begin necessary technical operations on Wednesday morning to bring the blaze under control.
The incident originated at around 7:30am on Tuesday during excavation for a deep tube-well on a homestead owned by local resident Mohammad Abdullah, situated adjacent to the Inani Chhotokhal Bridge in Jaliapalong union under Ukhiya upazila.
Gas began emitting from the tube-well hole during digging and immediately caught fire.
Gas spewing from 1,000 feet
To mitigate the risk of flames spreading to overhead electrical cables, Ukhiya Palli Bidyut Samity suspended 33,000-volt electricity supply across a 15-kilometre area extending from Monkhali to Patuartek.
Four units from the Fire Service arrived at the scene and initiated firefighting efforts, but controlling the blaze has proven difficult owing to the continuous emission of gas and the nature of the fire.
Saidul Islam, official of the Ukhiya Fire Service and Civil Defence station, said that initial observations pointed to the presence of underground natural gas.
He added that the gas was spewing from a depth of approximately 1,000 feet, making it difficult to put out the fire with existing personnel and technical equipment.
According to him, headquarters was informed of the situation, and senior authorities subsequently notified Bapex, Petrobangla, and other relevant agencies.
Following the notification, a Bapex technical team arrived and inspected the spot at around 10:00pm on Tuesday.
SM Nafifun Arham, manager (geology) of Bapex and head of the geological survey team, observed that drilling had likely reached close to a gas layer at a depth of nearly 1,000 feet.
He explained that once the upper section of the gas zone was exposed, high-pressure gas migrated upward over several days through subsurface micro-cracks, fractures, or geological fault zones before gushing out through the tube-well bore under pressure.
Focus on safety over capping
Regarding the origin of the fire, Arham noted that the gas ignited after coming into contact with a spark, which could have been generated by human activity or an electrical discharge.
He added that based on the colour of the flames and smoke, relatively heavy hydrocarbons might be present, though the exact composition and nature of the gas can only be confirmed after laboratory analysis of collected samples.
Warning against attempts to seal or block the gas flow, the Bapex official said that capping the pressure could force the gas to break through other vulnerable spots, escalating the overall risk.
Consequently, efforts are currently focused on safety rather than shutting off the gas flow, including evacuating people to a safe distance and maintaining power line disconnection due to adjacent homesteads and electric poles.
He added that efforts will be made to collect samples through various methods, noting that gas emissions may have spread across multiple nearby spots, though gas reserves cannot be evaluated at this stage.
Anxiety mounted among local residents as the flames grew larger after dusk, attracting curious crowds to the site.
As of 2am Wednesday, the fire remained unextinguished, with further decisions regarding gas characterisation and control methods awaiting the start of Bapex’s technical operations on Wednesday morning.
