Ctg depot fire: Body remains found after one month

A month after the fire and explosion at the BM container depot in Sitakunda, Chattogram, which killed over 40 people and injured hundreds, police have recovered more body remains of unfortunates who perished in the massive fire.

The remains were recovered while removing the wall of a shed destroyed in the blast around 4pm on Monday (4 July), Sitakunda Police Station OC Abul Kalam Azad told The Business Standard.

"While removing the walls of a shed damaged in the fire, depot workers saw some bones lying down. At that time they informed the police about the matter. Police later recovered them and sent them to the morgue of Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH)," he said. 

CMCH Director Brigadier General Shamim Ahsan said only body remains were sent to the hospital.

"These are a few pieces of a burnt corpse. Exactly how many body remains are there cannot be said without DNA testing. The remains have been stored in cold storage along with the previous bodies," he said. 

On 4 June, a fire and subsequent blasts at BM Container Depot at Sitakunda killed 49 people and injured over 200 people. 

Financial losses from the deadly blaze been estimated around Tk1,400 crore.  The fire, which took five days to douse, burnt down nearly Tk400 crore worth RMG products, Tk300 crore of other export-bound products, Tk500 crore worth imported goods and caused Tk300 crore losses to the depot owners. In addition, the value of destroyed containers was another Tk40 crore.