At least seven people suffered burns in a fire believed to have flared from a gas explosion at a tin-shed house in Mirpur early today.
The injured are Abdul Khalil, 40, his wife Ruma Akter, 32, their sons Hafiz Abdullah, 13, Mohammad, 10, and Ismail, 4, as well as neighbours Mohammad Shahjahan, 25, and his wife Swapna Akter Parvin, 22, both garment workers.
The injured have been admitted to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
Abdul Khalil's niece, Nasima Akter Rupali, said that the family hails from Munshiganj's Sadar upazila and was living at the rented house on road 16 of Mirpur-11. Shahjahan and Swapna live next door.
Injured Shahjahan recounted that they were asleep when the explosion occurred around 4:00am. Waking to the sound of the blast, they found themselves surrounded by flames and fled outside, their bodies on fire.
Shahjahan added that their house did not have a gas cylinder. However, a gas pipeline runs in front of the house, which had reportedly caught fire two days earlier. Locals had extinguished the flames at that time.
He suspects a leak in the pipeline allowed gas to accumulate in the house, leading to the explosion.
Dr Shaon Bin Rahman, a resident physician at the burn institute, said Abdul Khalil suffered 95 percent burns, Abdullah 38 percent, Mohammad 35 percent, Ruma and Ismail 20 percent each, while Swapna sustained 14 percent burns, and Shahjahan has 6 percent.
