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At least 38 dead, more than 100 injured after fire at Bangladesh container depot

A large hearth at a container depot close to a port metropolis in southeastern Bangladesh killed at the least 38 folks and injured greater than 100 others, officers and native media reported Sunday, as firefighters struggled to get the blaze underneath management.

The fireplace on the BM Inland Container Depot, a Dutch-Bangladesh three way partnership, broke out round midnight Saturday following explosions in a container filled with chemical substances. The reason for the fireplace couldn’t be instantly decided. The depot is positioned close to nation’s primary Chittagong Seaport, 216 kilometres southeast of the capital, Dhaka.

At the very least 5 firefighters have been among the many lifeless, in response to Brig.-Gen. Primary Uddin, director common of the Bangladesh hearth service and civil defence. One other 15 firefighters have been being handled for burns, he added.

A number of rounds of explosions occurred after the preliminary blast as the fireplace continued to unfold, Uddin mentioned. Explosives specialists from Bangladesh’s navy have been known as in to help the firefighters. The explosions shattered the home windows of close by buildings and have been felt so far as 4 kilometres away, officers and native media experiences mentioned.

A firefighter works to comprise the fireplace. At the very least 5 firefighters have been among the many lifeless and one other 15 have been being handled for burns, an official mentioned. (The Related Press)

Firefighters have been nonetheless working to deliver the fireplace underneath management on Sunday.

The loss of life toll reached 38 by Sunday afternoon, in response to Ekattor TV station, and the realm’s civil surgeon mentioned the quantity might nonetheless rise.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her shock on the accident and ordered that satisfactory medical remedy be organized for the injured.

Earlier disasters

Bangladesh has a historical past of commercial disasters, together with factories catching hearth with staff trapped inside. Monitoring teams have blamed corruption and lax enforcement for these lethal incidents over time.

International manufacturers, which make use of tens of 1000’s of low-paid staff in Bangladesh, have come underneath hearth to enhance manufacturing unit situations in recent times. Within the nation’s large garment trade, which employs about 4 million folks, security situations have improved considerably after large reforms, however specialists say accidents might nonetheless happen if different sectors don’t make comparable modifications.

An injured man is rushed for remedy after the fireplace broke out on the container depot. (The Related Press)

In 2012, about 117 staff died once they have been trapped behind locked exits in a garment manufacturing unit in Dhaka.

The nation’s worst industrial catastrophe occurred the next 12 months, when the Rana Plaza garment manufacturing unit outdoors Dhaka collapsed, killing greater than 1,100 folks.

In 2019, a blaze ripped by means of a 400-year-old space cramped with residences, outlets and warehouses within the oldest a part of Dhaka and killed at the least 67 folks. One other hearth in Previous Dhaka in a home illegally storing chemical substances killed at the least 123 folks in 2010.

In 2021, a fireplace at a meals and beverage manufacturing unit outdoors Dhaka killed at the least 52 folks, lots of whom have been trapped inside by an illegally locked door.

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