C T Online Desk: Radioactivity has been detected in a container of scrap iron imported from Manaus, Brazil, at the Chattogram Port.
According to port authorities, the presence of radioactive material was identified through the Megaports Initiative Radiation Detection System installed at the port to screen incoming shipments.
Following the detection, Chattogram Customs temporarily suspended the unloading of the container.
Sources at the port confirmed that the ship carrying the container departed from the Port of Manaus in Brazil and reached Chattogram on 3 August after calling at various ports in Panama, the Netherlands, and Sri Lanka.
Speaking to the Daily Sun, Chattogram Port Secretary Omar Faruk said, “During inspection, a signal indicating the presence of radioactive material was received. The container has been secured in a designated safe area within the port, and delivery has been halted.”
He added that officials from the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission had been informed of the incident and will conduct further investigations before any subsequent steps are taken.
Chattogram Customs sources revealed that Dhaka-based company Al-Aqsa Steel Limited, located in Demra, imported five containers of scrap iron from Brazil.
The five containers were offloaded from the vessel MV Mount Cameron at JCB Jetty No. 7 on 3 August. Radioactivity was found in one of those containers.
