By JULHAS ALAM, Associated Press
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — An enormous fireplace at a container depot close to a port metropolis in southeastern Bangladesh killed at least 38 individuals and injured greater than 100 others, officers and native media reported Sunday, as firefighters struggled to get the blaze underneath management.
The fireplace at the BM (*38*) Container Depot, a Dutch-Bangladesh three way partnership, broke out round midnight Saturday following explosions in a container filled with chemical compounds. The reason behind the hearth couldn’t be instantly decided. The depot is situated close to nation’s predominant Chittagong Seaport, 216 kilometers (134 miles) southeast of the capital, Dhaka.
At least 5 firefighters had been among the many lifeless, in line with Brig. Gen. Main Uddin, director basic of the Bangladesh fireplace service and civil protection. Another 15 firefighters had been being handled for burns, he added.
Multiple rounds of explosions occurred after the preliminary blast as the hearth continued to unfold, Uddin mentioned. Explosives consultants from Bangladesh’s navy have been referred to as in to help the firefighters. The explosions shattered the home windows of close by buildings and had been felt so far as 4 kilometers (2 1/2 miles) away, officers and native media experiences mentioned.
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Firefighters had been nonetheless working to convey the hearth underneath management on Sunday.
The loss of life toll reached 38 by Sunday afternoon, in line with Ekattor TV station, and the realm’s civil surgeon mentioned the quantity might nonetheless rise.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her shock at the accident and ordered ample association for medical remedy of the injured.
Bangladesh has a historical past of business disasters, together with factories catching fireplace with staff trapped inside. Monitoring teams have blamed corruption and lax enforcement.
Global manufacturers, which make use of tens of 1000’s of low-paid staff in Bangladesh, have come underneath fireplace to enhance manufacturing unit situations in latest years. In the nation’s large garment business, which employs about 4 million individuals, security situations have improved considerably after large reforms, however consultants say accidents might nonetheless happen if different sectors don’t make comparable adjustments.
In 2012, about 117 staff died after they had been trapped behind locked exits in a garment manufacturing unit in Dhaka.
The nation’s worst industrial catastrophe occurred the next yr, when the Rana Plaza garment manufacturing unit exterior Dhaka collapsed, killing greater than 1,100 individuals.
In 2019, a blaze ripped by means of a 400-year-old space cramped with residences, outlets and warehouses in the oldest a part of Dhaka and killed at least 67 individuals. Another fireplace in Old Dhaka in a home illegally storing chemical compounds killed at least 123 individuals in 2010.
In 2021, a fireplace at a meals and beverage manufacturing unit exterior Dhaka killed at least 52 individuals, lots of whom had been trapped inside by an illegally locked door.
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