"Two days after deadly blasts, Bangladesh container depot still burns", 6 June 2022

Firefighters battled for a third day on Monday to control a huge fire that killed dozens when it triggered explosions at a Bangladesh container depot, as officials warned of the risk of further blasts if the flames spread to chemicals stored nearby...

The confirmed death toll was revised down to 41 from 49, including at least nine firefighters. More deaths are feared, however, as some of the injured are in critical condition...

Of the around 200 injured, 50 were rescue officials. Of those, 10 were policemen, while three firefighters were still missing, said city police official Alauddin Talukder.

Fire service official Monir Hossain said the depot had apparently ignored guidelines for storing chemicals. "We haven't found any basic fire safety measures ...There were simply some extinguishers. Nothing else," he said...

Troops were also deployed to prevent the spread of chemicals in canals and along the Bay of Bengal coastline, officials said.

With the cause of the fire still under investigation, fire officials said it may have originated in a container of hydrogen peroxide before spreading quickly from there.

Ruhul Amin Sikder, secretary of the industry body Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA) said its facilities, including the BM Container Depot, regularly handled hydrogen peroxide without any incident.

"As far as our information goes, BM depot followed the usual process of operation in handling hydrogen peroxide," he said. "...What we fail to comprehend is the magnitude of fire and explosions that we observed."...

At the depot were about 800 containers filled with exportable items, some 85% of which were ready-made garments, Sikder said...

The privately-owned Dutch-Bangladesh joint venture shipping facility has promised compensation of 1 million taka ($11,000) to the family of each worker killed in the fire...