43 killed in Bangladesh container depot fire

Dhaka, June 5

At least 43 people were killed and over 450 injured in a massive fire caused by an explosion that swept through a private chemical container depot in southeastern Bangladesh, officials said on Sunday.

On Saturday night, the fire broke out at BM Container Depot in the Kadamrasul area in Sitakunda Upazila in Chittagong.

“So far 43 dead bodies have been brought to the morgue,” Sitakunda Shahadat Hossain, a senior government official, was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.

“Over 450 people have been injured in this incident of which, at least 350 are at state-run Chattagram Medical College Hospital (CMCH),” Istakul Islam, chief of the Health & Service Department at Red Crescent Youth Chittagong was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.

“The death toll could be more at other hospitals,” Islam said. Meanwhile, Chattogram Divisional Commissioner (DC) Ashraf Uddin further said families of the deceased are being given $560 (Taka 50,000) by the DC office. Meanwhile, $224 (Taka 20,000) is being given to the families of the injured, the Daily Star reported.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina mourned the death of people and ordered the mobilisation of all facilities for the salvage campaign. Officials formed a high-powered investigation committee demanding it to submit a report in the next three days.

A fire broke out at the container depot around 9 pm on Saturday, Sub-Inspector Nurul Alam stationed at CMCH said. As Fire Service units worked to put it out, there was an explosion and then the fire spread.

Nurul added that initially it was being suspected that the container depot caught fire due to chemicals, the report added. Around 11:45 pm, there was a massive explosion and the fire spread from one container to another due to the presence of chemicals in one of the containers.

“The depot was largely empty, the firefighters, policemen and other rescuers rushed to the scene after the fire initially broke out and the explosion of containers after containers filled with chemicals killed them,” a witness said over the phone.

Media reports, including TV footage, showed the blast shattered the windows of several buildings nearby and was felt from areas as far as 4 km away, creating panic. — PTI

High-powered panel to probe

• The fire broke out on Saturday night in the Kadamrasul area in Chittagong
• Chattogram Divisional Commissioner Ashraf Uddin said kin of the deceased were given $560 while families of the injured were provided $224
• Officials formed a high-powered investigation committee demanding it to submit a report in the next three days