Staff Reporter :
At least five persons, including two women and a child, sustained burn injuries when an underground reservoir of a house exploded and caught fire in the city’s Pallabi area on Tuesday morning.
The victims are Yakub Ali, 70, building owner, his wife Hasinara Khanam, 60, Yeasmin, 27, Yeasmin’s daughter Ruhi, 3, and Hasan, 32, Police said.
Witnesses said, the fire broke out in the reserve water tank of the six-storey building owned by Yakub Ali around 11:30am when worker Hasan lit a candle inside it for light while cleaning it.
The fire engulfed Hasan and others who were standing outside the reservoir, leaving them injured.
The injured were taken to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). In the morning, caretaker Mohammad Hasan opened the cover of the septic tank for cleaning it. He dropped a flaming paper into the septic tank to check the presence of toxic gas. That triggered the blast, according to the Mirpur Fire Service. Dr Partha Shanker Paul, Resident Medical Officer at the DMCH, described their condition as serious, saying they got their throats burned.
Of the injured, Hasinara suffered 95 percent burns, Ruhi 90 percent, Hasan 85 percent, Yeasmin 41 percent and Yakub 25 percent, said Bachchu Mia, Sub-Inspector of the DMCH police camp.
The incident took place at Pallabi, neighbourhood of Mirpur, around 11:30am and they were admitted to DMCH, said Dadan Fakir, Offier-in-Charge (OC) of Pallabi Police Station.