The fire started on Saturday night at the BM container depot in Sitakunda, Chittagong district, according to the Bangladesh agency Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).
Police and firefighters are trying to put out the blaze and save people.
The death toll could rise as some of the injured are in critical condition, Chittagong civilian surgeon Mohamed Elias Hossein said, according to Reuters. He added that firefighters and police officers were among the injured.
Firefighters said firefighters were trying to put out the ongoing fire Sunday afternoon as containers filled with chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide or sulfur, were still erupting, Reuters reported. Locals added that the blast caused an earthquake in the neighborhood and subsequently broke some of the windows of local infrastructure.
Although the cause of the fire remains unknown, firefighters said it may have originated from a hydrogen peroxide vessel and spread to other containers.
“It’s really getting harder because the toxic fumes have engulfed the area,” Newton Dass, a firefighter, told Reuters.
Chattogram divisional commissioner Asharf Udin said the families of the dead would be compensated with 50,000 Bangladeshi ($ 560), while the wounded and their families would also be compensated.
The incident is the latest in a series of fatal industrial accidents in several years in the South Asian country.
At least 38 people were killed in December after a fire broke the launch of the Suganda River in the southern region of Jalakati. A few months earlier, at least 52 people were killed and about 50 others injured when a huge fire broke out at a juice factory in Rupganj, east of the capital Dhaka.
With an additional Reuters report.
Add Comment