The blaze broke out shortly before midnight at the BM Container Depot, about 40 miles (40 kilometers) from Chittagong, Asia’s largest commercial port, said Jalal Ahmed, a firefighter.
At least five people were killed and about 100 others injured when a fire broke out at a container warehouse in Sitakunda (southeast Bangladesh), Elias Chondri, chief physician at Chitagonglu, near France, told AFP.
The blaze broke out shortly before midnight at the BM Container Depot, about 40 miles (40 kilometers) from Chittagong, Asia’s largest commercial port, said Jalal Ahmed, a firefighter.
About twenty of the injured are in critical condition, as the burns they suffered cover from 60 to 90% of their bodies.
Several fire brigades had rushed to the storage area to put out the fire when a huge explosion shook the facility, injuring several people, including firefighters.
Some of the containers in the private facility contained chemicals, especially hydrogen peroxide, explained Ruhul Amin Sikder, a spokesman for the Bangladesh Inland Container Association (BICA).
The director of the facility, Mujibur Rahman, said the cause of the fire was unknown. He clarified that the facility employs about 600 people.
