Families of Sitakunda container depot fire victims scour hospitals in a frantic search for loved ones

The families of victims of the container depot fire in Chattogram’s Sitakunda are rushing from one hospital to another in search of their loved ones.

People were flocking to Chattogram Medical College Hospital on Sunday morning to look for the missing victims. They ran to every ambulance arriving at the emergency department in the hospital. They showed the victims’ photos on mobile phones to the journalists or police, asking if they knew anything about them, reports bdnews24.com. 

Ali Newaz from Bashkhali rushed to Chattogram in the morning after he could not reach his younger brother over the phone.

Ali Newaz said his brother has been working in the ICT department of the BM Container Depot for the last eight years. He told his wife about the fire on the depot on Saturday night over a video call. His brother’s phone has been unreachable since the call, said Newaz. 

Newaz had already searched different wards in the hospital, as well as other private hospitals, but did not find his brother.

Another man, Mamun, came to look for his elder brother Md Sumon, who was a covered van driver and drove goods to the depot on Saturday. 

A native of Noakhali’s Sonarpur, Mamun said he and his two siblings lived in a rented house in Nimtala. “After the fire broke out in the depot, my brother [Sumon] called and informed me about it. I haven't been able to reach his phone since.”

Hearing news of casualties, Mamun went to the hospital, but could not find his brother.

At least 32 people have been killed in the fire at the BM Container Depot in the Kadmarsul area after a fire broke out around 9:30 pm on Saturday.

Chattogram Fire Service personnel struggled to bring the fire under control and reinforcements were called in from Feni, Noakhali and Cumilla at around 3:30 am.

Anisur Rahman, deputy director of Chattogram divisional fire service, said on Sunday morning that although the fire was brought under control, it spread again due to repeated explosions.

Those who arrived at the Chittagong Medical College Hospital for treatment said that poisonous gas was spreading along with smoke after the blasts.

Mizan was looking for his cousin Toha at the hospital. Toha, who hailed from Bashkhali’s Napora, was an excavator operator in the depot and went missing after the fire broke out, he said.

Mizan said he initially looked for Toha at the depot premises but could not find him, said then he went to the different wards in CMCH on Sunday morning.