Two more bodies recovered, death tally rises to 43

The firefighters have recovered body parts of two more fire victims from the BM Container Depot of Chattogram’s Sitakunda. With the latest recovery, the total death tally has been estimated at 43.

Purna Chandra Mutshuddi, deputy assistant director of Feni Fire Service and Civil Defence, confirmed this to Prothom Alo, saying that the bodies were retrieved around 1:00 pm on Tuesday.

He presumed that one of the two was a firefighter and the other was a security guard of the depot.

Anisur Rahman, deputy director of Fire Service’s Chattogram Division, said the bodies were sent to Chittagong Medical College Hospital. Their identities could be ascertained after conducting DNA tests.

Earlier, a total of 41 people were recovered from the depot, where a fire broke out around 9:15 pm on Saturday. Later, the chemical filled containers started to go off one after another inside the depot and made the situation more critical.

After 61 hours of frantic efforts, the firemen in collaboration with a special team of Bangladesh Army managed to bring the fire under control Tuesday.