40 killed, over 450 injured in fire at Bangladesh chemical container depot

At least 40 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 SundayOn Saturday night the fire broke out at BM Container Depot in the Kadamrasul area in Sitakunda Upazila in ChittagongSo far 40 dead bodies reached the morgue here a police officer stationed at the staterun Chattagram Medical College Hospital CMCH told newsmenOver 450 people have been injured in this incident of which at least 350 are at CMCH Istakul Islam chief of the Health amp Service Department at Red Crescent Youth Chittagong was quoted as saying by the Dhaka TribuneThe death toll could be more at other hospitals Islam saidMeanwhile Chattogram Divisional Commissioner DC Ashraf Uddin further said that families of the deceased are being given USD 560 Taka 50000 by the DC office Meanwhile USD 224 Taka 20000 is being given to the families of the injured the Daily Star reportedPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina mourned the death of people and ordered the mobilisation of all facilities for the salvage campaign Officials formed a highpowered investigation committee demanding it to submit a report in the next three daysCMCH Police Outpost SubInspector SI Nurul Alam said a fire broke out at the container depot around 9 pm on SaturdayAs Fire Service units worked to put it out there was an explosion and then the fire spreadNurul added that initially it was being suspected that the container depot caught fire due to chemicals the report addedAround 1145 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 containersThe 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 told PTI over the phoneThe explosion shook the neighbourhood and shattered glasses of windows of nearby houses the report addedMedia 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 panicChittagong Fire Service and Civil Defence Assistant Director Md Faruk Hossain Sikdar said Around 19 firefighting units are working to douse the blaze and six ambulances are also available on the spotSeveral types of chemicals like hydrogen peroxide were stored in containers at the depot and the chemicals have visibly sparked the fire fire service chiefBrigadier General Mohammad Mainuddin told newsmen at the scene in the Sitakunda area on the outskirts of the port cityThe staterun Chattagram Medical College Hospital accommodated most of the fire wounded patients while several others including scores of firefighters were being treated at a military hospital and some private facilitiesIn a statement Mujibur Rahman director of the BM Container Depot said it was not clear what caused the fire But I think the fire started from the containerArrangements are being made to ensure that the injured get the best treatment We will bear the entire cost of the treatment Those who were injured in the accident will be given the maximum compensation Rahman was quoted as saying by The Daily StarIn addition we will take responsibility for all the families of all the victims he addedBM Container Depot is set up as an inland container depot which has been operating since May 2011 The private container depot was built on 21 acres of land in the Sitakunda area of Chattagram adjacent to the Bay of Bengal coastlinesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever