Bangla container depot fire: Police starts collecting DNA samples to identify victims

Dhaka: The police on Monday started collecting DNA samples to identify victims of the devastating fire at a private container depot in southeastern Bangladesh, even as authorities struggled to determine the cause of the blaze that killed at least 49 people.

A massive fire broke out at the chemical container depot near the country's main Chittagong Seaport on Saturday night. The number of fatalities is likely to go up as some of the injured are in critical condition and at least three firefighters remain missing.

A forensic team led by Chittagong's Criminal Investigation Department Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Jahangir Alam set up a booth in front of the Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on Monday to cross-match DNA samples of unidentified victims of the fire, The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.

Alam said samples were being collected from parents, siblings, or any two of the children of the unidentified victims.

Long queues of relatives of the victims formed in front of the booth to identify their loved ones in the early morning.

Of the 49 dead consisting mostly of workers of the private depot and firefighters, 13 have been identified so far. Over 450 people were also injured in the incident.

The tragedy raised concern over the safety standard in the country's

industrial sector. AGENCIES