Officials stated on Sunday that a major fire sparked by an explosion ripped through a private chemical container warehouse in southern Bangladesh, killing at least 35 people and injuring over 450 others.
BM Container Depot in the Kadamrasul region of Chittagong's Sitakunda Upazila caught fire on Saturday night. "As of now, 35 bodies have arrived at the morgue here," a police official at the state-run Chattagram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) told reporters.
The Dhaka Tribune quoted Istakul Islam, chief of the Red Crescent Youth Chittagong's Health and Service Department, as saying, "Over 450 persons have been hurt in this tragedy, of which at least 350 are at CMCH."
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Fire broke out at Bangladesh Chemical Container Depot[/caption]
"At other hospitals, the death toll could be higher," Islam warned. Meanwhile, Chattogram Divisional Commissioner (DC) Ashraf Uddin stated that the DC office is providing USD 560 (Taka 50,000) to the families of the deceased. Meanwhile, the Daily Star claimed that USD 224 (Taka 20,000) has been provided to the injured's families.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her condolences for the loss of life and ordered the mobilisation of all resources for the salvage operation. Officials constituted a high-powered investigating group and demanded that it provide its findings within three days.
A fire broke out at the container depot at 9 p.m. on Saturday, according to CMCH Police Outpost Sub-Inspector (SI) Nurul Alam.
There was an explosion when firefighters attempted to put out the fire, and the fire quickly spread. According to the article, it was initially assumed that the container depot caught fire due to chemicals.
Due to the presence of chemicals in one of the containers, there was a big explosion at 11:45 p.m., and the fire moved from one container to another.
"The depot was mostly vacant when the fire broke out, and firefighters, police officers, and other rescuers raced to the scene when the fire broke out, and the explosion of containers after containers full of chemicals killed them," a witness told PTI over the phone.
According to the report, the explosion shook the neighbourhood and damaged the windows of surrounding homes.
According to media sources, including television footage, the bomb smashed the windows of numerous neighbouring buildings and was felt as far as 4 kilometres away, causing fear.
"Around 19 firefighting units are working to douse the blaze, and six ambulances are also there on the area," Chittagong Fire Service and Civil Defence Assistant Director Md Faruk Hossain Sikdar said.
"Several sorts of chemicals, like as hydrogen peroxide, were stored in containers at the depot, and the chemicals visibly caused the fire," fire department chief Brigadier General Mohammad Mainuddin told reporters at the site in the Sitakunda neighbourhood on the port city's outskirts.
The majority of the fire victims were treated at the state-run Chattagram Medical College Hospital, but others, including scores of firefighters, were treated in a military hospital and some private facilities.
The cause of the fire, according to Mujibur Rahman, director of the BM Container Depot, is unknown. "However, I believe the fire originated in the container."
"Arrangements are being made to guarantee that those who have been hurt receive the best possible care. The treatment will be completely covered by us. Those who were hurt in the accident would be compensated to the full extent of the law "According to The Daily Star, Rahman said.
"In addition, we will assume responsibility for all of the victims' families," he continued. The BM Container Depot is an inland container terminal that has been in operation since May 2011. The private container depot was constructed on 21 acres of land in Chattagram's Sitakunda neighbourhood, close to the Bay of Bengal's coasts.
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