Sitakunda: At least 35 people were killed and over 450 injured after an explosion triggered a massive blaze at a private Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Bangladesh’s Sitakunda, near the country’s main sea port of Chittagong. The fire broke out at BM Container Depot in Kadamrasul area of Sitakunda upazila on Saturday night, Outpost Sub-Inspector (SI) Nurul Alam said.
As Fire Service units worked to put it out, there was an explosion and then the flames spread.“So far 35 dead bodies have been brought to the morgue here,” a police officer stationed at the state-run Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) told the media.
Istakul Islam, chief of Health & Service Department at Red Crescent Youth Chittagong, said, “Over 450 people have been injured in this incident, of which at least 350 are at CMCH. The death toll could be more at other hospitals.” Police, Fire Service and local sources said the fire broke out inside BM Container Depot’s loading point around 9pm.
SI Nurul added that prima facie, it is believed the container depot caught fire due to chemicals. Around 11:45pm, there was a massive explosion and the fire spread from one container to another due to the presence of chemicals in one of the containers. Sources said the blast was so powerful that it shook the neighbourhood and shattered windows in nearby houses.