At least 49 people were killed and hundreds of people were injured after the fire triggered a large chemical explosion at the shipping container depot in Bangladesh, officials said on Sunday.
The toll road is expected to increase, with some than more than 300 people injured in serious conditions, officials said, while volunteers reported that there were more corpses in burning and full of ruins.
The fire began on Saturday at the Depot in Sitakunda, which kept around 4,000 containers, many of them were filled with clothes destined for Western retailers. This facility is about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the South Chittagong Main Port.
Following the fire, the container holding the chemicals exploded, swallowed firefighters, volunteers and journalists in Inferno, sliding people and debris in the air, and turned the night sky into a blazing orange.
The buildings located kilometers far dangled with the power of the explosion.
Elias Chowdhury, head of a regional doctor, told AFP that the number of dead people was 49 but would increase. Firefighters continued to extinguish the fire bag with a hose on Sunday.
The death toll will increase because the rescue work has not been completed, “said Chowdhury.
These people – including some journalists who do Facebook life – are still not calculated.”
Reazul Karim, Director of the Fire Operation, said that at least seven firefighters were killed and at least four others were missing.
It was never in the history of our firefighters, we lost so many firefighters in a single incident,” Bharat Chandra, a former senior firefighter, told AFP.
There are still some bodies in a place affected by fire. I saw eight or 10 bodies, “a volunteer told reporters.
Mujibur Rahman, Director B.M. Container Depot, a company operating facilities with around 600 workers, said that the cause of the initial fire was still unknown.
The container depot holds hydrogen peroxide, the Head of the Fire Department Brigadier General Uddin told reporters.
We still cannot control the fire because of the existence of this chemical,” he said.
Fireballs fall like rain ‘
Mohammad Ali, 60, who manages the nearby grocery store, said the explosion was deafening.
A cylinder flying about half a kilometer from where the fire into our small pool when the explosion occurred,” he told AFP.
The explosion sent fireballs to the sky. Fireballs fall like rain. We are very afraid we will immediately leave our house to find protection … We think the fire will spread to our area because it is very densely populated, “he added.
The Tofael Ahmed truck driver stands inside the depot when the explosion occurs.
The explosion only threw me about 10 meters from where I was standing,” he said. “My hands and feet are burning.”
Chowdhury, the head of the doctor in Chittagong, said that the injured had been rushed to a different hospital because the doctor was brought back from a vacation to help.
Demand for blood donations for injured social media.
Army helicopter
The army said it had mobilized 250 soldiers to prevent chemicals from flowing into the Indian Ocean using sand sacks.
Mominur Rahman, Head of District Administrator Chittagong, said that while the fire was mostly controlled, there were still active “some bags”.
Firefighters tried to control these fire bags. The fire has spread to at least seven hectares of land inside the depot, “he said.
Fire is common in Bangladesh because of the enforcement of weak safety rules.
About 90 percent of the Bangladesh trade is around 100 billion dollars – including clothing for H&M, Walmart and others – passing the chittagong port at the northern end of Bengal Bay.
Exports have been booming since the end of last year, when the global economy recovered from Pandemi. In the first five months of this year, shipping rose more than 40 percent.