The incident occurred at BM Container Depot in the Kadamrasul area of Sitakunda Upazila.[1][8] After a fire started in the loading area at around 21:00 BST (15:00 UTC), a massive explosion occurred at around 23:45 BST (17:45 UTC), triggering more explosions that spread across the depot caused by ignition of chemicals stored in the containers.[1][7][9][10] The force of the explosions affected buildings several kilometres away, and one witness stated that the explosions caused a rain of fireballs.[11][12]