Bangladesh: the terrible explosion of the port causes at least 40 deaths and over 200 injuries

About 40 people died and more than 200 were injured a violent explosion occurred in Bangladesh’s largest container depotwhere firefighters were working to try to contain the flames of a fire that hit the country’s main port.

The tragedy began shortly after 9.15pm in the Sitakunda area of ​​the southeastern city of Chittagong.

Ashraf Uddin, a local official in charge of the provisional death tally, explained to the EFE agency that at least 164 injured are receiving treatment at the medical hospital Chittagong, while another 35 are in Park View hospital and an unknown number are recovering in a military hospital.

Fire officer in Chittagong, Mohammad Kofil Uddin, told Efe that at least 15 members of his team are receiving treatment at the military hospital and Two of them are in critical condition.

Among the dead are seven firefighters and some police personnel were injured during the rescue, he added.

In the midst of the catastrophe, displaced fire brigade teams in the area have been working tirelessly since last night to control the flames that formed after the explosion in the container service of the Dutch-Bangladeshi company BM.

This morning “the Bangladeshi army joined the fire brigade” to provide specialized support and operations in the area were strengthened with the arrival of 51 soldiers, Uddin said.

He also pointed out that several volunteers approached the area during the day to help and expect further reinforcements from the Bangladeshi authorities.

“We’re not sure how it started, it could be due to an act of sabotage “, BM director Muzibur Rahman told Efe, adding that there were about 250 workers inside the warehouse at the time of the explosion.

A “flammable” door.

What is known so far is that it was in some of the storage containers “highly flammable” chemicals.which would hinder the fire fighting works.

As the fire spread, “some containers started exploding,” Chittagong Fire Chief Anisur Rahman said.

Some of the containers stored hydrogen peroxide, a chemical compound that it could have exploded after the fire broke outBangladesh Inland Containers Association (BICA) spokesman Ruhul Amin Sikder told Efe.

“The magnitude of the explosion is no less than what we saw in Beirutin Lebanon, a few years ago “, warned the spokesman, who also stressed that this incident could cause less damage if the containers with hazardous materials were separated from each other.

Fires in Bangladesh, a recurring problem

Fires and industrial accidents are common in Bangladesh, a country with few security measures and where there are usually a large number of fatalities.

One of the worst fires ever recorded in the country occurred last July, in which 52 people died and another 25 were injured after the flames broke out in a food factory in Dhaka.

In 2019, a fire at a chemical plant in the Bangladeshi capital killed 70 people and injured another 55. Seven years earlier, at least 119 people died in a fire at a clothing factory in the Asian country. EFE

With information from EFE