Hundreds of people had gone to the area to fight the fires in the containers in the area in Sitakunda. Explosions took place during these interventions.
Some of the containers are thought to contain chemicals.
Industrial fires of this type are quite common in Bangladesh. Poor security regulations are cited as the reason for this.
While the condition of many of the injured is said to be quite serious, the death toll is feared to rise.
Hospitals in the region are experiencing high densities. Authorities called for blood donations. Military hospitals also provide assistance for the treatment of the wounded.
Hundreds of firefighters, police and volunteers arrived at the scene after the fire started at 9:00 pm on Saturday evening.
While the officers were trying to put out the fire, a huge explosion occurred in the area. Rescuers were engulfed in flames, and many were blown up by the force of the explosion.
Truck driver Tofael Ahmed told AFP news agency, “The explosion threw me about 10 meters from where I was. My hands and legs were burned.”
Volunteers continued to collect the bodies of those who lost their lives at the scene on Sunday morning.
A local journalist speaking to the BBC said there was a strong odor in the air. Some images taken after the explosions show that metal containers were smashed; It shows that the roof of a building has also completely collapsed.
At least five firefighters were killed and many injured in the explosion. Many people are still missing, including journalists who went to the area to cover the fire before it exploded.
While the explosion could be heard even kilometers away, the windows of the surrounding buildings were also broken.
A shopkeeper in the area told reporters that a piece of debris fell into a lake half a kilometer away. Shopkeepers stated that “fireballs rained down” from the sky after the explosion.
Akbar Hossain, the BBC’s correspondent in the capital Dhaka, says many in Bangladesh have compared the explosion to the big bang that shook Beirut in 2020. Hossain reported that people heard the explosion from 30-40 km away.
Firefighters are working hard to put out the fire.
The military has placed sandbags in the area to prevent chemicals from entering the Indian Ocean.
There were around 4,000 containers in Sitakunda.