By Ruma Paul

DHAKA, Reuters – On Monday, firefighters in Bangladesh fought for a third consecutive day to put out a huge fire at a container depot that had killed 41 people. The incident highlighted the poor safety record of this South Asian country.

Drone footage revealed thick columns of smoke from Sitakunda (40 km/25 miles) away, and rows upon rows of burned-out containers. This was Saturday’s result of a massive blast and container explosions.

Officials said that the fire was being contained but not completely extinguished. Chemical containers near them pose danger of causing explosions and life-threatening injuries.

Anisur Rahman (fire service chief for the port city) stated that firefighters were working hard but it was too dangerous to be near chemicals.

Similar blasts have also occurred in other areas, causing problems for firefighters.

Officials said that troops have joined forces to stop the spread of chemical agents along the Bay of Bengal coast and in the nearby canals.

Officials have reduced the death count to 41 deaths from 49. There were also more than 200 injuries. Alauddin Talukder from the city police said that there were at least 9 firefighters killed and 50 injured rescue workers.

However, there are more deaths to be feared as many of those injured are still in critical condition according to Chittagong doctor Mohammed Elias Hossain.

Although the cause of this fire was not immediately known, it is believed that there were several factors. Fire officials believe the fire started from a hydrogen peroxide container and then spread rapidly.

Ruhul Amin Sikder (secretary of the Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association, BICDA) stated that almost all containers containing exportable or imported goods had been burned.

Sikder said that there were approximately 800 containers with exportable goods, 500 with importable products, and 3000 empty. He was quoting representatives from BM Container Depot.

He stated that readymade garments accounted for around 85% of total exportable goods.

Privately-owned shipping company has offered compensation in the amount of 1,000,000 taka (11,000) for the families of workers who died in the fire.

According to the International Labour Organization, Bangladesh became the second-largest exporter in the last decade of garments, however, there is still much work needed for industrial safety and infrastructure.

In recent years, conflagrations that resulted in hundreds of deaths were attributed to lax regulation and poor enforcement.

A 2020 oil tank explosion at Chittagong’s Patenga depot killed three people. Last July, 54 were also killed in an accident in Dhaka, where they had been working as food processors.

The fire which engulfed several buildings within a historic neighborhood of the capital killed 70 people in 2019

($1=91.5000 taka)