At least 11 members of a family, including four children, were injured in a gas cylinder explosion in Ashulia on Friday night.
The incident took place around 9:30 pm on the second floor of a two-story building owned by Amjad Bepari in the Gomail area of Ashulia, Savar.
The victims are Zahura Begum, 70, Surjo Banu, 55, Md Monir Hossain, 43, Sohel, 38, Sumon Mia, 30, Shiuli Akhter, 25, Sharmin, 25, Chamin Mahmud, 12, Mahadi, 7, Swad, 4, and Suraya, 3.
According to locals and eyewitnesses, garment worker Sumon lived in a rented flat on the second floor with his wife and two children. Relatives had gathered at his home for Shab-e-Barat. While preparing rice cakes (pitha) for the occasion, a gas cylinder exploded, causing the entire flat to catch fire.
Injured Sohel stated, “I had gone to visit my brother Sumon’s house with my family. While we were making pitha, the cylinder suddenly exploded, setting the house on fire. Our entire family suffered burns.”
Harun Ur Rashid, manager of the Women and Children’s Hospital in Ashulia, told The Daily Star, “Eleven burn victims were brought to our hospital around 10:30 pm. Four of them are children. After receiving primary treatment, they were transferred to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.”
