New Delhi: At least 35 people were killed and over 450 injured in a massive fire caused by an explosion that swept through a private chemical container depot in Southeastern Bangladesh, officials said on Sunday, June 5.At around 9 pm on Saturday night, the fire broke out at BM Container Depot in the Kadamrasul area of the Sitakunda Upazila in Chittagong.The fire triggered a huge blast and several subsequent container explosions at the depot. Fire officials said they were still trying to douse the flames as of noon on Sunday as chemical filled containers were still exploding.Firefighters try to containe the blaze at a container facilty in Sitakunda, Bangladesh June 4,2022 in this screen grab obtained from a video on social media. Photo: Oliur Rahman via Facebook/via REUTERSSo far, 35 dead bodies have reached the morgue, a police officer stationed at the state-run Chattagram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) told reporters.Over 450 people have been injured in this incident of which at least 350 are at CMCH,” Istakul Islam, chief of the Health & Service Department at Red Crescent Youth, Chittagong was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.“The death toll could be more at other hospitals,” Islam said.The death toll could rise as some of the injured are in critical condition, said Chittagong civil surgeon Mohammed Elias Hossain. The injured included firefighters and policemen, he said.He said all doctors in the district were called in to help tackle the situation while social media was flooded with appeals for emergency blood donations.Five firefighters also died and at least 50 others, including 10 policemen, were injured, he added.Government announced compensation for families of those killed, injuredMeanwhile, Chattogram Divisional Commissioner (DC) Ashraf Uddin said that families of the deceased are being given 50,000 Taka (around Rs 43,500) by the DC office. Meanwhile, 20,000 Taka (around Rs 17,400) is being given to the families of the injured, the Daily Star reported.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina mourned the death of people and ordered the mobilisation of all facilities for the salvage campaign. Officials formed a high-powered investigation committee demanding it to submit a report in the next three days.How the fire broke outCMCH Police Outpost Sub-Inspector (SI) Nurul Alam said a fire broke out at the container depot around 9 pm on Saturday. As Fire Service units worked to put it out, there was an explosion and then the fire spread.Nurul added that initially it was being suspected that the container depot caught fire due to chemicals, the report added.Around 11:45 pm, there was a massive explosion and the fire spread from one container to another due to the presence of chemicals in one of the containers.The depot was largely empty. Firefighters, policemen and other rescuers had rushed to the scene after the fire initially broke out and the explosion of container after container filled with chemicals killed them, a witness told news agency PTI over the phone.The explosion shook the neighbourhood and shattered glasses of windows of nearby houses, the report added.Media reports, including TV footage, showed that the blast had shattered the windows of several buildings nearby and was felt from areas as far as 4 km away, creating panic.Firefighters try to containe the blaze at a container facilty in Sitakunda, Bangladesh June 4,2022 in this screen grab obtained from a video on social media. Photo: Oliur Rahman via Facebook/via REUTERSChittagong Fire Service and Civil Defence Assistant Director Md Faruk Hossain Sikdar said: “Around 19 firefighting units are working to douse the blaze and six ambulances are also available on the spot.”Several types of chemicals, like hydrogen peroxide and sulfur, were stored in containers at the depot and the chemicals have visibly sparked the fire, fire service chief Brigadier General Mohammad Mainuddin told reporters at the scene in the Sitakunda area, on the outskirts of the port city.Toxic fumes reportedly engulfed the area after the blasts, making rescue and firefighting efforts more difficult.The state-run Chattagram Medical College Hospital accommodated most of the fire wounded patients while several others including scores of firefighters were being treated at a military hospital and some private facilities.In a statement, Mujibur Rahman, director of the BM Container Depot, said it was not clear what caused the fire. “But I think the fire started from the container”.“Arrangements are being made to ensure that the injured get the best treatment. We will bear the entire cost of the treatment. Those who were injured in the accident will be given the maximum compensation,” Rahman was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.“In addition, we will take responsibility for all the families of all the victims,” he added.BM Container Depot is set up as an inland container depot which has been operating since May 2011. The private container depot was built on 21 acres of land in the Sitakunda area of Chattagram adjacent to the Bay of Bengal coastlines.Lax industrial safety measuresBangladesh has prospered over the past decade to become the world’s second biggest exporter of garments, but the infrastructure and institutional preparedness for industrial safety there is still nascent, the International Labour Organization said earlier this year.Lax regulations and poor enforcement of rules in the south Asian country have often been blamed for several large fires that have led to hundreds of deaths in recent years.In 2020, three people were killed after an oil tank exploded at a container depot in Chittagong’s Patenga area.In July last year, 54 people died when an inferno ripped through a food processing factory outside the capital, Dhaka.At least 70 people died in a fire that engulfed several buildings in a centuries-old neighbourhood of the Bangladesh capital in 2020.(With inputs from Reuters, PTI)