3 dead, over 100 injured in Bangladesh's container depot fire

DHAKA: A devastating fire broke out at a private container depot in Bangladesh's southeastern Chattogram region Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring more than 100.

SM Rashidul Haque, the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Chattogram district, some 242 km southeast of capital Dhaka, told Xinhua early Sunday that three people had died after being admitted to the Chattogram Medical College Hospital with major burns on their bodies.

At least 100 injured were rushed to the hospital on Saturday night.

Most of the victims suffered from mild to heavy burns, and the health condition of several others is also critical.

A fire department official, who declined to be named, said as many as 16 fire-fighting units have been striving to put out the blaze that broke out at about 8.00 pm local time at the private BM Container Depot Lt, a Netherlands-Bangladesh joint venture company.

He said the fire broke out in the container yard located in Sitakunda on the outskirts of Bangladesh's premier Chattogram seaport city.

As per preliminary information, the fire incident happened in one of the containers loaded with chemicals in the yard.

The death toll in the devastating inferno is likely to rise, warned the fire official, who has been working throughout the night to douse the devastating blaze.

-- BERNAMA