CHATTOGRAM, March 4, 2023 (BSS) - At least five people were killed and 50 others injured as a fire broke out this afternoon at a private oxygen plant following an explosion in Kadam Rasul (Keshabpur) area of Sitakunda upazila of the district.

The deceased were Shamsul Alam, Farid Uddin, Ratan Lakhret, Md Shahid Ullah and Abdul Kader, Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) information centre sources said.

Tofazzel Ahmed, officer-in-charge of Sitakunda thana, confirmed the news of the deaths and the number of injuries to BSS.
 
Abul Bashar Md Fakhruzzaman, deputy commissioner of Chattogram, visited the place of occurrence and injured persons at Chattogram Medical College Hospital. 

The deputy Commissioner said that the injured are being treated at Chattogram Medical College Hospital. A three-member probe committee has been formed following the incident, the DC said.

 SM Shafiullah, superintendent of Chattogram district police said police cordoned off the oxygen plant. However, the reason behind the blast and fire could not be known immediately, said the fire official.

A blast went off at the oxygen plant of Sheema Automatic Re-Rolling Mills Limited in Kadamrusul area, next to the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway this afternoon.

Md Nurul Alam Dulal, senior station officer of Sitakunda Fire Service, said a fire broke out following the explosion. A total of ten firefighting units doused the blaze around 6 pm.