At least 15 dead in fire at Bangladesh container depot

A massive fire at a container depot near a port city in southeastern Bangladesh left at least 15 people dead and more than 100 others wounded, officials and local media reports said Sunday, as firefighters struggled to get the blaze under control. The fire at the BM Inland Container Depot, a Dutch-Bangladesh joint venture, broke out around midnight Saturday following explosions in a container full of chemicals. The depot is located in Chittagong, 216 kilometers (134 miles) southeast of the capital, Dhaka. The area’s civil surgeon initially told The Associated Press early Sunday that at least six people had died. But the death toll later rose to at least 15 at the Chattogram Medical College Hospital, Ekattor TV station reported. The death toll could still rise further, the civil surgeon said. Many fire service officials and police were among the injured, he said. About 5,000 containers are in the depot, according to Ekattor TV. The depot handles goods for export and import and is located about 20 kilometers from the country’s main Chittagong Seaport.