Bangladesh battles to douse fire at depot
DHAKA: Firefighters in Bangladesh battled for a third day on Monday to stamp out a massive fire that killed 41 people at a container depot in an incident that spotlights the South Asian nation’s poor safety record.
Drone footage showed thick columns of smoke and rows of burnt-out containers as Saturday’s fire persisted after a huge blast and shipping container explosions at Sitakunda, 40km from the southeastern port city of Chittagong.
The fire has been largely reined in but not entirely extinguished, as containers nearby loaded with chemicals pose a risk of life-threatening explosions, fire officials said.
“Our firefighters are working hard, but due to the presence of chemicals it’s too risky to work close by,” said Anisur Rahman, fire service chief of the port city.
Similar explosions, some of which shattered the windows of buildings in the neighbourhood, have already complicated the firefighters’ task.
Troops have also joined the effort to prevent the spread of chemicals in nearby canals and along the Bay of Bengal coastline, officials said.
Officials revised the death toll down to 41 from 49, with more than 200 injured.
The tally included at least nine dead firefighters, while 10 policemen were among the 50 rescue officials injured, said city police official Alauddin Talukder.
More deaths are feared, however, as some of the injured are in critical condition, said Chittagong doctor Mohammed Elias Hossain.
The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear. But fire officials suspect it could have originated in a container of hydrogen peroxide before spreading quickly.
The police on Monday started collecting DNA samples to identify victims.
A forensic team led by Chittagong’s criminal investigation department additional superintendent of police Jahangir Alam set up a booth in front of the Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on Monday to cross-match DNA samples of unidentified victims of the fire, The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.
Alam said samples were being collected from parents, siblings, or any two of the children of the unidentified victims. Long queues of relatives of the victims formed in front of the booth to identify their loved ones in the early morning.