A major fire at a container depot in Bangladesh has killed at least 25 people and injured more than 150 others.

"The death toll is expected to rise as the fire is still not fully under control," Health Department chief Hasan Shahriar told AFP on Sunday.

According to the chief medical officer of the city of Chittagong, Elias Chowdhury, some of the injured are in mortal danger.

As reported by Jalal Ahmed from the local fire department, the fire broke out on Saturday evening in an inland container warehouse in the southeastern city of Sitakunda, around 40 kilometers from Chittagong's largest port.

After several fire brigade units went to the scene of the fire, a massive explosion occurred there, said the local police chief, Abul Kalam Azad.

According to the authorities, numerous people were injured, including at least 40 firefighters and ten police officers.

Some suffered burns between 60 and 90 percent of their body surface.

At least five firefighters died.

Several hospitals were involved in caring for the injured.

Millions of dollars worth of clothing items affected

The fire had not been extinguished by Sunday noon (local time).

Bangladesh's Inland Container Association (Bica) spokesman Ruhul Amin Sikder said some of the containers at the private container depot contained chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide.

Local authority chief Mujibur Rahman said the cause of the fire was still unclear.

According to him, about 600 people worked in the depot.

Garments worth several million dollars were stored there, which were to be exported to western retailers.

There are 19 privately operated inland container depots in Bangladesh.

In 2020, an oil tank explosion at one of these depots in the Patenga region killed three people.