A massive fire that swept through a container depot in southeastern Bangladesh, on Sunday morning has killed no fewer than 16 people while leaving more than 170, according to officials.
According to the officials, the fire broke out at a container facility on Saturday night at Sitakunda, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the port city of Chittagong, triggering multiple explosions.
‘Sixteen people have been killed in the fire. The number of fatalities is expected to rise as some of the injured are in critical condition,’ Chittagong’s chief doctor, Elias Chowdhury, told the reporters on Sunday.
Those injured included firefighters who had been at the scene attempting to douse the blaze.
Read Also: Bangladesh Sentences Former Chief Justice To 11 Years In Jail
They were hurt during the secondary explosions.
‘Some 170 people were injured including at least 40 firefighters and 10 police officers. Three firefighters were also killed,’ said Abul Kalam Aza, the local police chief.
Africa Daily News, New York reports that as at the time of filing this report, firefighters were still working to put out the fire on Sunday morning.
The explosions shook the neighbourhood and shattered glasses of windows of nearby houses, local residents said.
Chittagong civil surgeon Mohammed Elias Hossain has urged all doctors in the district to help tackle the situation and called for emergency blood donations.
It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze.
Fire service officials said they suspect it may have originated from a container of hydrogen peroxide and spread quickly to other containers.
About 5,000 containers are at the BM Inland Container Depot, which handles goods for export and import, according to local media.
