At least 49 people were killed and more than 300 were injured in a massive chemical explosion, sparked by fire, at a container depot in Sitakunda, Bangladesh, officials said Sunday.
The deterioration of the balance should be feared, some injured are in critical condition. Volunteer rescuers, sometimes wearing only flip-flops, retrieve corpses from the fire, littered dirt, and say there is still leftovers inside.
The fire broke out around 9:30 pm local time on Saturday in a private warehouse containing about 4,000 containers in Sitakunda, about 40 kilometers from the main port of Chittagong in the southeast of the country.
Hundreds of firefighters rushed to the scene to kill it, but an hour after the disaster broke out, several containers of chemicals exploded, fire services said.
More than 300 people were injuredsaid toAFP Elias Chowdhury, the region’s top health official.
An interim report
According to him, several people are still missing, including journalists who covered the fire live. The death toll will increase, as rescue operations have not yet been completedhe warned.
There are still corpses in the areas affected by the fire. I saw eight or ten corpsestold a rescuer to the media.
At least seven firefighters were killed and four are missing, said Reazul Karim, a fire department official.
The massive explosion shook buildings several kilometers away, witnesses said.
A cylinder flew about half a mile from the fire scene to our small lakesaid Mohgammad Ali, a 60 -year -old grocer.
The explosion sent fireballs into the sky. Fireballs falling like rain. In great fear we immediately fledHe added.
The explosion made me jump about ten meters from where I was. My hands and feet are burningfor his part said Tofael Ahmed, a trucker who was in the warehouse.
The deposit contains hydrogen peroxide, a chemical with many industrial uses, Fire Chief Brigadier General Main Uddin told reporters.
We still couldn’t control the fire due to the presence of this chemicalHe added.
The army called as reinforcements
The army announced the deployment of 250 soldiers to assist with relief operations, including stacking sandbags to prevent the spillage of chemicals into the sea.
The depot employs about 600 people, said its director Mujibur Rahman, who said he did not know the source of the fire.
Mominur Rahman, the chief administrator of the Chittagong district, announced the opening of an investigation.
He said the depot also contains clothes worth millions of dollars to be exported to Western countries.
About 90% of Bangladesh’s approximately $ 100 billion in annual trade goes through Chittagong.
This major port has been experiencing a resurgence of activity since the end of last year thanks to the global economic recovery from the pandemic.
Fires are frequent in Bangladesh, where safety standards are less respected.
In July 2021, 54 people died in a fire at a massive food processing plant outside the capital, Dhaka.
And in February 2020, 70 people died in another fire that destroyed several apartment buildings in Dhaka.
Source: Radio-Canada
