Decomposed body of another unidentified fire victim of BM Container Depot at Sitakunda Upazila of the district was recovered from a container shed on Monday.
With the recovery of the victim, the death toll in the fire incident rose to 49.
Abul Kalam Azad, officer in Charge of Sitakunda Thana told BSS that a team of Sitakunda police recovered body of another victim from the debris of a container shed of BM Container Depot at 12.30pm.
It may be mentioned that a total of 49 people including nine fire service personnel were killed and over 100 people injured in BM depot explosion on June 4.
Local emergency services and sources reported that the fire began inside the loading area of the depot at around 9pm. Hundreds of first responders and volunteers quickly arrived at the depot and began to fight the fire.
The first explosion was massive and occurred around 9:45pm, enveloping many of those on the scene and sending many others flying through the air. This initial explosion then triggered multiple subsequent explosions. Several of the containers held flammable chemicals, and when the fire engulfed them, they caused explosions and the spread of the fire.
The explosions shook the ground in the surrounding area and shattered windows of nearby buildings. The force of the explosions was large enough that it affected buildings kilometres away. The fumes from the fire were also toxic due to the chemicals involved, making the firefighting effort more difficult.
An eyewitness stated that the explosion "sent fireballs into the sky" that then fell "like rain", and that one piece of debris flew about half a kilometre from the location of the fire to near where he was. One victim stated that he was standing inside the depot when the explosion threw him about 10 metres, and that his hands and legs were burnt. The main explosion was reportedly heard from 30 to 40 km away.
