The fire broke out at BM Inland Container Depot, a Dutch-Bangladesh joint venture, near the south-eastern port city of Chattogram on Saturday night after some explosions were reported, firefighting official Anisur Rahman said.

Firefighters were unable to bring the flames under control during the night. Small explosions of containers full of chemicals hampered their efforts, he said, adding that firefighters were also among the dead.

He said the firefighters identified chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide in many of the containers inside the import-export depot, located nearly 300 kilometres south-east of the capital Dhaka and 20 kilometres from the major port of Chittagong.

Army troops were called in to join the rescue operation, Rahman said. He was unable to say what caused the fire.

Some 250 troops supported the firefighters to douse the flames, prevent chemicals from seeping into a nearby river and rescue those who were injured, he added.  

Alauddin Talukder, a police officer at Chittagong’s Medical College Hospital, said at least 32 bodies had been brought to the morgue by midday on Sunday.

Chief medical officer of Chattogram district Elious Chowdhury put the death toll to 49 by the afternoon. More than 200 people were wounded, most suffering from burns, he added.

He feared the death toll could increase further as firefighters were not able to reach most of the places where people were trapped.

Nine of the deceased were identified as members of the Fire Service and Civil Defence department, said Brigadier General Main Uddin, head of the department.

Never before have so many firefighters died in a single blaze, he said, adding that a special team of firefighters from Dhaka was flown in to join the local team.

Television footage showed firefighters trying to douse the flames using hoses while explosions in other parts ignited fires inside the depot.

Nearly 20 hours into the accident, the firefighters could still be seen spraying water onto burning containers, unable to bring the flames under control completely, according to footage shown by private broadcaster Somoy.

Most of the residents living close to the site of the accident left their homes as plumes of black smoke made breathing difficult throughout the day, said Jibon Ahmed, a local resident.

Nurul Kayum Khan, head of Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association, said he had never seen such an accident in the 24 years since the association was founded.

The association estimated that goods, mostly garment products ready for export shipment, worth about $145 million, were inside the warehouse. The true level of damage would be determined only after an investigation is completed, he said.

The authorities assigned a three-member panel to investigate the cause of the fire, asking for a report in three days, said State Minister for Shipping Khaled Mahmud Chowdhury.

Deaths from fire and industrial disasters are frequent in Bangladesh.

Last year, almost 40 people were killed when a fire swept through a passenger ferry in December, while 52 died after a blaze trapped workers in a Dhaka food processing factory in July.