Sitakunda fire death toll reaches 43 as two more bodies recovered

Firefighters on Tuesday recovered two more bodies from the BM Inland Container Depot in Sitakunda in Chattogram.

With recovery of these bodies, the death toll in the incident reached 43.

The local administration revised the death figure to 41 from the previously reported 49, attributing the error to double-counting in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophe.

‘We have finally counted 41 bodies,’ said Chattogram civil surgeon Elias Chowdhury, adding that a few bodies were counted both on the spot and at the hospital morgue.

Firefighters found the bodies at the middle part of the depot at about 12:45pm, Md Akhtaruzzaman, assistant director of fire service and civil defence, told New Age.

'Beside one of the bodies we found fire service and civil defence boots and PPE signs, while the other showed burnt parts of security clothing. We guess one of these victims is a member of the fire service and the other is a member of the depot security team,’ he said.

Firefighters struggled for nearly two days to bring the fire at BM Container Depot in Chattogram’s Sitakunda under full control as containers filled with hydrogen peroxide made the task harder.

Over 102 injured were still undergoing treatment at the Chattogram Medical College Hospital while dozens of others were taking treatment in other hospitals in Chattogram and Dhaka.

Families of the victims were struggling to support the injured victims, many of whom are in critical condition.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/172610/sitakunda-fire-death-toll-reaches-43-as-two-more-bodies-recovered