Bangladesh battles to douse blaze at container depot that killed 41
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[June 06, 2022]
By Ruma Paul
DHAKA (Reuters) - Firefighters in
Bangladesh battled for a third day on Monday to stamp out a massive fire
that killed 41 people at a container depot in an incident that
spotlights the South Asian nation's poor safety record.
Drone footage showed thick columns of smoke and rows of burnt-out
containers as Saturday's fire persisted after a huge blast and shipping
container explosions at Sitakunda, 40 km (25 miles) from the
southeastern port city of Chittagong.
The fire has been largely reined in but not entirely extinguished, as
containers nearby loaded with chemicals pose a risk of life-threatening
explosions, fire officials said.
"Our firefighters are working hard, but due to the presence of chemicals
it's too risky to work close by," said Anisur Rahman, fire service chief
of the port city.
Similar explosions, some of which shattered the windows of buildings in
the neighbourhood, have already complicated the firefighters' task.
Troops have also joined the effort to prevent the spread of chemicals in
nearby canals and along the Bay of Bengal coastline, officials said.
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Officials revised the death toll down to 41 from 49, with more than 200
injured. The tally included at least nine dead firefighters, while 10
policemen were among the 50 rescue officials injured, said city police
official Alauddin Talukder.
More deaths are feared, however, as some of the injured are in critical
condition, said Chittagong doctor Mohammed Elias Hossain.
The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear. But fire officials
suspect it could have originated in a container of hydrogen peroxide
before spreading quickly.
"Almost all the containers with exportable and imported goods were
burned," said Ruhul Amin Sikder, secretary of industry body the
Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA).
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![](../images/060622PIX/news_u49.jpg)
Drone footage shows smoke rising from the spot after a massive fire
broke out in an inland container depot at Sitakunda, near the port
city Chittagong, Bangladesh, June 5, 2022 in this still image
obtained from a handout video. Al Mahmud BS/Handout via REUTERS
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Jun/06/images/ads/current/mcentire_sda_GRADUATE_2022.png)
At the depot were about 800 containers filled with
exportable items, about 500 with imported items and about 3,000 that
were empty, Sikder added, quoting officials of the shipping
facility, BM Container Depot.
"Some 85% of the total exportable goods were readymade garment," he
said.
The privately-owned shipping facility has promised compensation of 1
million taka ($11,000) to the family of each worker killed in the
fire.
Bangladesh has become the world's second-biggest exporter of
garments in recent decades, but its infrastructure for, and focus
on, industrial safety are still nascent, the International Labour
Organization said this year.
Lax regulations and poor enforcement have been blamed for
conflagrations in recent years that led to hundreds of deaths.
In 2020, three people were killed after an oil tank exploded at a
container depot in Chittagong's Patenga area, while 54 died last
July in an inferno in a food processing factory outside the capital,
Dhaka.
In 2019, 70 were killed in a fire that engulfed several buildings in
a centuries-old neighbourhood of the capital.
($1=91.5000 taka)
(Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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