- Chemical-filled containers were still exploding on Sunday as firefighters attempted to douse the fire and officials said the army had joined the mission.
- The injured included firefighters and policemen, he said.
- It was not immediately clear what had caused the blaze.
On Sunday, firefighters worked for a second day to put out a major fire at a container depot in southeast Bangladesh that killed at least 49 people, the latest tragedy spotlighting the country’s abysmal industrial safety record as reported by Reuters.
Massive boom
Officials claimed a fire at a shipping container factory in Sitakunda, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the port city of Chittagong, injured more than 200 people and triggered a massive boom and many container explosions.
On Sunday, chemical-filled containers continued to explode as firefighters battled to put out the fire, and officials announced that the army had joined the task. Drone imagery revealed dense columns of smoke and rows of charred containers.
Residents started the explosions shaking the neighbourhood and shattering windows in surrounding buildings.
Death toll
According to Chittagong civil surgeon Mohammed Elias Hossain, the death toll could grow because some of the injured are in serious condition and rescue operations are still ongoing. According to him, the injured included firefighters and police officers.
He added that all of the district’s doctors had been summoned to assist with the crisis and that social media had been swamped with requests for emergency blood donations.
He stated that five firefighters had perished and at least 50 people, including ten police officers, had been injured.
Witnesses said hundreds of anguished relatives were rushed from one hospital to another in a desperate quest for their loved ones.
“I lost my brother,” says the narrator “Afzal Hossain, 25, killed in the fire,” according to Shakhawat Hossain, his cousin. “His father passed away ten months ago. He was the youngest, yet he was the only one who looked after his mother, who had been passing out repeatedly. Nothing can make her feel better.”
More explosions
It was not immediately clear what had caused the blaze.
Fire service officials said they suspected it may have originated in a container of hydrogen peroxide and spread quickly to other containers.
“It’s really getting harder as toxic fumes engulfed the area,” he said.
Lax regulations and poor enforcement of rules have been blamed for several large fires that have led to hundreds of deaths in recent years.
In 2020, three people were killed after an oil tank exploded at a container depot in Chittagong’s Patenga area, while in July last year, 54 died when an inferno ripped through a food processing factory outside the capital Dhaka.
Did you subscribe to our newsletter?
It’s free! Click here to subscribe!
Source: Reuters
