Terrible explosion in a port leaves at least 40 dead and more than 200 injured

by time news

Some 40 people died and more than 200 were injured by a violent explosion that took place in the largest container depot in Bangladeshwhere firefighters were working to try to contain the flames of a fire that affected the country’s main port.

The tragedy began shortly after 9:15 p.m. in the Sitakunda area of ​​the southeastern city of Chittagong.

Firefighters gather the remains of those killed by the flames (Photo REUTERS/Stringer)

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

The fire service 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 of the police personnel were injured during the rescue work, it added.

The flames started at night in the warehouse in Bangladesh (AP Photo)

The flames started at night in the warehouse in Bangladesh (AP Photo)

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

This morning “the Bangladesh Army joined the firefighters” to provide specialized support and operations in the area were reinforced with the arrival of 51 soldiers, Uddin said.

He also stressed that several volunteers have approached the area throughout the day to help, and more reinforcements are expected from the Bangladeshi authorities.

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

There were seven firefighters among the victims (AFP Photo)

There were seven firefighters among the victims (AFP Photo)

A “flammable” port

What is known so far is that in some containers in the deposit there was “highly flammable” chemicalswhich would be hindering the work of extinguishing the fire.

As the fire spread, “some containers started to explode,” said Chittagong fire service chief Anisur Rahman.

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

The origin of the fire is unknown (Photo EFE)

The origin of the fire is unknown (Photo EFE)

“The magnitude of the explosion is not 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.

The fires in Bangladesh, a recurring problem

Industrial fires and accidents are common in Bangladesh, a country with few security measures and in which there are usually a large number of victims.

Aerial view of the warehouse that caught fire (Al Mahmud BS via REUTERS)

Aerial view of the warehouse that caught fire (Al Mahmud BS via REUTERS)

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

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

With information from EFE

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