TEHRAN- The spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, conveyed condolences to the Bangladeshi government and people following a large fire at a container depot in a port city in southern Bangladesh, which claimed the lives of at least 49 people and wounded 100 others.

Khatibzadeh sympathized with the victims' families, and wished the wounded a speedy recovery.

The fire broke out at midnight at the BM Inland Container Depot, a joint venture between the Netherlands and Bangladesh, after explosions in a chemical container. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained right away. The depot is located 216 kilometers southeast of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, near the country's important Chittagong Seaport.

According to Brigadier-General Main Uddin, director-general of the Bangladesh fire service and civil defense, at least nine firemen were killed. He mentioned that more than 10 others were being treated for burns.