On Saturday night, the fire broke out following explosions in a container full of chemicals at BM Container Depot in the Kadamrasul area in Sitakunda Upazila in Chittagong.
The fire started late on Saturday at the huge depot in Sitakunda storing around 4,000 containers, many of them filled with garments destined for Western retailers, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the major southern port of Chittagong.
Then containers holding chemicals exploded, engulfing firefighters, journalists and others in an inferno, hurtling people and debris through the air, turning the night sky a blazing orange and rattling buildings kilometres away.
Volunteers, some with only flip-flops on their feet, brought bodies from the smouldering, wreckage-strewn facility, saying there were more inside.
The bodies of the people who were killed in the fire will be handed over to the deceased's families post the DNA profiling.
“So far 40 dead bodies reached the morgue here," a police officer stationed at the state-run Chattagram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) told newsmen.
“Over 450 people have been injured in this incident of which, at least 350 are at CMCH," Istakul Islam, chief of the Health & Service Department at Red Crescent Youth Chittagong was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.
"The death toll could be more at other hospitals," Islam said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her shock at the accident and ordered adequate arrangement for medical treatment of the injured.
Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Alauddin Talukder of Chittagong Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) police outpost said, "The bodies brought in after 9 am are in such bad condition that their identities are impossible to determine. DNA tests are necessary to identify them."
68 patients are receiving treatment at CMCH, while many others are being provided with medical care at various private hospitals in the city. At least five firefighters had died while trying to douse the flames, Fire Service and Civil Defence chief Brig Gen Md Main Uddin told the Dhaka Tribune, Bangladesh's local media outlet.
The Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) Police Outpost Sub-Inspector (SI), Nurul Alam said that as per the preliminary investigation into the incident, it is being suspected that the container depot caught fire due to chemicals.
In the run-up to dousing the fire by the fire services, a massive explosion took place. After the explosion, the fire spread even further, reported Dhaka Tribune. SI Nurul Alam said that the fire broke out at around 9 PM. Though the fire broke out at around 9 PM, however, after several hours at 11:45 PM, a massive explosion took place.
Following this, the fire spread from one container to another due to the presence of chemicals in one of the containers. Istakul Islam, chief of Health and Service Department at Red Crescent Youth Chittagong, confirmed the deaths to Bangladesh's local media outlet.
"Over 450 people have been injured in this incident of which, at least 350 are at CMCH. The death toll could be more at other hospitals," he had said earlier.
As per the sources, the explosion shook the neighborhood and shattered glasses of windows of nearby houses. Earlier, Chittagong Fire Service and Civil Defense Assistant Director Md Faruk Hossain Sikdar had said, "Around 19 firefighting units are working to douse the blaze and six ambulances are also available on the spot."
BM Container Depot is set up as an inland container depot that has been operating since May 2011. Most of the victims suffered from mild to heavy burns, and the health condition of several others is also critical.
(With input from agencies)
