Doctors say the death toll could rise as some of the injured are in critical condition.
A massive fire has swept through a container depot in southeastern Bangladesh, killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 170, according to officials.
Officials said the fire broke out at a container facility Saturday night in Sitakunda, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the port city of Chittagong, causing multiple explosions.
“16 people were killed in the fire. The death toll is expected to increase as some of the injured are in critical condition,” Chittagong’s chief doctor, Elias Chowdhury, told AFP news agency.
The injured included firefighters who were on the scene trying to put out the blaze.
They were injured in secondary explosions.
“About 170 people were injured, including at least 40 firefighters and 10 policemen. Three firefighters were also killed,” said Abul Kalam Aza, the local police chief.
Police said firefighters were still working to put out the blaze on Sunday morning.
The explosions shook the neighborhood and shattered the windows of nearby houses, local residents said.
Civil surgeon Chittagong Mohammed Elias Hossain appealed to all the doctors in the district to help deal with the situation and called for an urgent blood donation.
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
Fire service officials said they suspect it may have originated in a container of hydrogen peroxide and spread rapidly to other containers.
According to the local press, around 5,000 containers are at the BM Inland Container Depot, which handles export and import cargo.
