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At least five people have died in an explosion at Sima Oxygen Limited’s plant in Chattogram’s Sitakunda.
Shahadat Hossain, chief executive of the Sitakunda Upazila administration, said the blast occurred at the private facility in Sonaichhari near the Dhaka-Chattogam Highway around 4:30 pm on Saturday.
The Fire Service and Civil Defence, the police and Upazila administration officials rushed to the site after the incident, he said.
The fire service said nine units of the firefighters brought the flames caused by the blast under control in less than an hour, reports bdnews24.com.
Photos from the site showed the blast ripped through metal structures of the factory in the Kadam Rasul area.
Ashraful Alam, an assistant commissioner, said in the evening that the rescuers found five bodies from the site of the blast.
The death toll is expected to rise as the rescue operation continues.
The explosion damaged the entire plant. Smoke billowing from the factory could be seen from far away.
Some onlookers said they saw body parts severed by the blast at the site.
Around 15 people injured in the blast were taken to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, said Alauddin Talukder, an assistant sub-inspector at the hospital’s police camp.