More than 300 people are also injured. The authorities fear that the assessment will increase, the fire is not yet controlled.
Le Monde with AFP
At least thirty-four people died and more than 300 others were injured on Sunday, June 5, in a fire that sparked a gigantic explosion of chemicals in a container warehouse in Sitakunda, in the south-east of Bangladesh.
According to Elias Chowdhury, the main health official in the region, several people are still missing, including journalists who covered the fire live. “There are still bodies in the places affected by fire. I saw eight or ten corpses,” said a rescuer in the media.
Among the injured are forty firefighters and ten police officers, said regional police chief of Chittagong, Anwar Hossain. According to him, “the number of deaths should increase, because some of the injured are in critical condition”.
The gigantic explosion made buildings treated several kilometers away, witnesses reported. “A cylinder has stolen about half a kilometer from the fire to land in our small pond,” said Mohgammad Ali, a 60-year-old grocer. “The explosion sent balls of fire in the sky. Fire balls that fell like rain.” He added. “The explosion projected me about ten meters from where I was. My hands and legs are burned,” said Tofael Ahmed, a trucker who was in the warehouse.
a fire still in progress
The deposit contained hydrogen peroxide, a chemical with multiple industrial uses, said the Brigadier General Main Uddin, chief of the firefighters. “We have still not been able to master the fire due to the existence of this chemical,” he added. The deposit employed around 600 people, according to its director, Mujibur Rahman, who said they ignore the origin of the fire.