“Twenty-five people died in the fire, including five firefighters. The toll is expected to rise as the fire is not yet fully under control,” said official Hasan Shahriar to AFP.

The fire broke out at around 9:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. GMT) on Saturday at the Sitakunda container warehouse, located about 40 kilometers from the major port of Chittagong in the south of the country.

According to firefighters, as hundreds of people tried to put out the fire an hour after the start of the disaster, several chemical containers exploded, killing and injuring many rescuers.

The explosion shook buildings located several kilometers away.

The incident also injured at least 170 people, including 40 firefighters and 10 police officers, according to Chittagong Regional Police Chief Anwar Hossain.

The depot contained clothes worth millions of dollars that were to be exported to Western retailers, Mominur Rahman, the chief administrator of Chittagong district, told AFP.