Staff Reporter:
Six members of a family, including women and children, sustained burn injuries in a gas cylinder explosion in the Bhashantek area of the capital.
The burn victims were rescued and admitted to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute at 4:45 am.
The victims are: Meherunnesa (80), Md Liton (52), Surja Banu (30), Sujan (8), Lamia (7) and Liza (18).
Their neighbour Moyna Begum said Liton, whose village home is in Mymensingh, lives with family members on the ground floor of a two-storey building in Culvert Road. He owns a furniture business in the area. The explosion occurred in the early morning when Liton lit a candle to burn the mosquito coil. Six members of the family suffered burn injuries.
Liton’s family used to cook with gas cylinders in the house. Everyone thinks the gas was accumulated in the house due to leakage in the cylinder, she said.
Duty Officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence Shafiqul Islam said that locals assumed that the explosion happened due to a leakage in the gas cylinder. Upon receiving the information, two firefighting units rushed to the spot. However, the victims were taken to the hospital by the locals before reaching firefighters on the spot.
Resident surgeon of the emergency department of the Burn Institute Dr Tariqul Islam said Liton suffered 67 percent burn injuries, his wife Surja Banu 82 percent, Liza 30 percent, Lamia 55 percent, Sujan 43 percent and Meherunnesa 47 percent. All of them are in critical condition.
