08 Jun Deadly Bangladesh container depot fire brought under control after three days
The fire that broke out in a Bangladesh container depot has been brought under control after emergency services fought it for three days. The fire has killed nearly 50 people including emergency service personnel and has injured hundreds more.
One senior fire service official Monir Hossain who attended the scene told Reuters: “The fire has not been put out completely but there is no risk of further explosion as our team has sorted out the chemical containers .. one by one.
“We haven’t found any basic fire safety measures … There were simply some extinguishers. Nothing else. They didn’t follow storage guidelines for hazardous chemicals.”
The fire is believed to have begun after a container storing hydrogen peroxide exploded. Residents several kilometres nearby heard the explosion and the force is said to have shattered the windows of nearby buildings.
Ruhul Amin Sikder, secretary of the Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association said on Monday its members, including BM Container Depot, regularly handled hydrogen peroxide without any incident and as far as he knew, the company followed guidelines.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said an investigation had been launched and those responsible would face justice.
The storage depot is located near the city of Chittagong, and the situation has put local hospitals under immense pressure. Industrial fires are common in Bangladesh, and are often blamed on poor safety regulations.
The last major fire in Bangladesh was in July last year when 54 people were killed at a food processing factory outside the capital of Dhaka. Bangladesh’s deadliest fire was in 2012, when a blaze swept through a garment factory killing 112 workers.