BANGLADESH DEPOT FIRE KILLS AT LEAST 49
At least 49 people were killed and hundreds more suffered burns when a fire at a container depot in Bangladesh set off a series of explosions, officials said Sunday, the latest such disaster in a country where mass-casualty fires have become a recurring problem.
Many people were in critical condition in hospital burn wards, according to local officials, who feared the death toll would rise. By afternoon, two dozen firefighter units were still trying to contain the blaze, which began around 10:45 p.m. Saturday at B.M. Container Depot in the town of Sitakunda, about 10 miles from Chattogram, Bangladesh’s main port.
After the first firefighters arrived, a large explosion rocked the depot, causing the flames to spread. At least five firefighters were killed in that blast, and 14 others were wounded, officials said. More explosions followed, continuing well 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 2 to 3 kilometers away from the depot,” Majharul Islam, 26, a store owner who lives about 100 meters from the depot, said about the initial explosion.
Islam said that he provided supplies to the vast depot’s canteen and that at any time as many as 500 to 600 people could be working there.
“The explosion took place on one side,” he said, “that is a small part given the whole depot.”
Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, issued a statement that expressed “deep shock” over the depot fire and that offered “condolences to the families of the deceased.” Her government’s state minister for labor and employment announced financial help to families that were affected.
The cause of the disaster, at one of Bangladesh’s largest inland container depots, was not immediately clear. Attempts to contact executives at the company that runs the depot were not immediately successful.