DHAKA, Bangladesh — At least 49 folks have been killed and tons of extra suffered burns when a fireplace at a container depot in Bangladesh set off a sequence of explosions, officers stated on Sunday, the newest such catastrophe in a rustic the place mass-casualty fires have turn into a recurring drawback.
Many folks have been in essential situation in hospital burn wards, in keeping with native officers, who feared the dying toll would rise. By afternoon, two dozen firefighter models have been nonetheless attempting to comprise the blaze, which started round 10:45 p.m. Saturday at B.M. Container Depot within the city of Sitakunda, about 10 miles from Chattogram, Bangladesh’s primary port.
After the primary firefighters arrived, a big explosion rocked the depot, inflicting the flames to unfold. At least 5 firefighters have been killed in that blast, and 14 others have been wounded, officers stated. More explosions adopted, persevering with effectively into Sunday morning.
“The window glasses of my house are broken. Not just ours — we heard from the other people that their windows were also broken, even at two to three kilometers away from the depot,” Majharul Islam, 26, a retailer proprietor who lives about 100 meters from the depot, stated in regards to the preliminary explosion.
Mr. Islam stated he supplied provides to the huge depot’s canteen and that at any time as many as 500 to 600 folks could possibly be working there.
“The explosion took place on one side,” he stated, “that is a small part given the whole depot.”
Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, issued a press release that expressed “deep shock” over the depot hearth and that provided “condolences to the families of the deceased.” Her authorities’s state minister for labor and employment introduced monetary assist to households that have been affected — about $2,200 for the victims and about $500 every for the remedy of these wounded.
The reason behind the catastrophe, at one in every of Bangladesh’s largest inland container depots, was not instantly clear. Attempts to contact executives on the firm that runs the depot weren’t instantly profitable.
Shahadat Hossain, the senior authorities official for Sitakunda, stated that a considerable amount of hydrogen peroxide could have been saved on the depot, together with different items. “We cannot say anything further right now,” he stated.
Hundreds of individuals have been admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital, stated Dr. Mohammed Elias Chowdhury, the civil surgeon for Chattogram, which is often known as Chittagong. “Many of them are critical,” he stated. “Some people have 60 to 70 percent burns on their bodies.”
Photographs from the hospital confirmed wounded folks laid out on the ground, ready for remedy. Dr. Chowdhury stated all go away had been canceled for docs and different employees members on the hospital.
Hasan Mahmud Arafat, 25, a college pupil who volunteered to assist on the hospital, stated all beds within the burn models have been full and that ambulance sirens had blared all evening.
“I saw thousands of people come to the hospital to donate blood,” he stated. “I saw locals come to the hospital with hand fans — they were fanning the patients who were waiting to get a bed or who were admitted to the makeshift beds.”
Mass-casualty fires and industrial disasters, significantly in garment factories, which account for 80 % of the nation’s exports, have been a recurring drawback in Bangladesh. The regular financial development of the nation of 170 million folks has been a regional success story in recent times, however human rights and labor organizations have lengthy expressed concern about poor working situations and office security measures.
The worst of the disasters occurred in 2013, when the collapse of an eight-story garment manufacturing facility killed greater than 1,100 folks. Last July, a manufacturing facility hearth within the metropolis of Narayanganj killed at the least 51 folks.
Mujib Mashal contributed reporting from New Delhi.