49 killed, hundreds injured in Bangladesh depot fire

At least 49 people have been killed and more than 300 injured after a massive fire swept through a container depot in southeastern Bangladesh, according to senior officials. Firefighters were still working on Sunday to put out a massive blaze, Reuters reported.  

The fire had broken out at the container facility on Saturday night at Sitakunda, 40 km from the port city of Chittagong, triggering a huge blast and multiple container explosions, officials said.  

6 firefighters are among those killed and at least 50 others, including 10 policemen were injured, an official of Bangladesh’s Fire Service and Civil Defence Unit said.  

Chemical-filled containers were still exploding on Sunday as firefighters were attempting to douse the fire while officials said the army had joined the mission. Explosions had shaken the neighbourhood and shattered windows in nearby buildings, local residents said.  

It was not immediately clear what had caused the blaze. Fire service officials suspected it may have originated in a container of hydrogen peroxide and spread quickly to other containers also containing sulphur. Extinguishing the blaze was really getting harder as toxic fumes were engulfing the area,” they said.  

Bangladesh has prospered over recent decades to become the world’s second-biggest exporter of garments, but the infrastructure and institutional focus for industrial safety is still nascent, the International Labour Organization had said earlier this year. Lax regulations and poor enforcement of rules have been blamed for several large fires that have led to hundreds of deaths in recent years.
DHAKA, June 5 Courtesy : Reuters/ Al Jazeera