Oxygen plant blast kills at least five in Bangladesh

At least five people were killed and dozens were injured in an explosion at an oxygen plant outside Bangladesh's port city of Chittagong on Saturday, officials said.

The blast rocked the oxygen unit of the Sheema steel re-rolling mill in the industrial town of Sitakunda at around 4:30 pm (1030 GMT), trapping "many workers" inside the plant, local police chief Tofael Ahmed said.

A terrible explosion at Seema Oxygen Plant in #Sitakunda area of #Chittagong shook the whole area.#Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/TRtjYWyAXw

— Public Press BD (@bd_public) March 4, 2023

5 killed, 30 injured in explosion at oxygen factory in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The surrounding area was shaken by the terrible explosion. A team of the army also joined the rescue operation. Besides, 9 units of fire service are conducting rescue work.#bangladesh #ctg pic.twitter.com/EKJSPCbdHW

— Hossain Tareq (@HossainTareq6) March 4, 2023

"The fire brigade has doused the fire and they rescued the people from the plant," he added.

District administrator Mohammad Fakhruzzaman told AFP at least five people were killed in the explosion and another 25 people were injured.

Witness Muslim Uddin said the explosion was "so loud and devastating" that it shook all residential houses in the area.

"Glass in many houses was shattered. The entire area went dark," he told AFP.

The government has ordered a probe into the explosion.

Industrial explosions and fires are common in Bangladesh where safety enforcement by the factory authorities is poor.

In June last year, a fire and subsequent explosions at a container depot in the same industrial town left more than 50 people dead.