Staff Reporter :
At least seven people were killed and around 60 others injured in an explosion at Moghbazar in the capital on Sunday evening.
Dhaka Metrpolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Shafiqul Islam said at least seven people were killed in the explosion. The commissioner further said they did not find any evidence to support it is an incident of sabotage and it is likely to have taken place due to gas explosion.
The identities of the deceased could not be known immediately, and the causes of the explosion remained unknown.
The explosion took place in front of a showroom of Arong in Wireless Gate area around 7:30pm.
The fire service officials could not confirm whether it was any car’s cylinder blast or any building’s air-conditioner explosion.
The injured were, however, admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), and Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
DMCH outpost police inspector Bachchu Miah told the New Nation that of the injured, 44 were admitted to Burn Unit of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and 12 to Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute.
Mahfuz, Duty Officer of Fire Service Headquarters, told the media that the explosion occurred in a three-storey building adjacent to Arong at Mogbazar.
Reasons behind the explosion could not be known immediately, said Sazzadur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Ramna Zone).
Debashish Bardhan, a deputy director of the Fire Service Civil Defence, said some rescuers reached the site while others were on their way on hearing that several people were trapped after a building collapsed.
Fourteen firefighting units were conducting rescue operations when this the report was filed around 9:45pm.
Photos and videos posted on social media showed collapsed pillars, shattered glasses and damaged buses all over the street in Moghbazar.
The cause of the explosion was not clear immediately.
Some locals believe it was caused by a power transformer blast, while some others said the explosion occurred inside a building.
Arifur Rahman, a shopkeeper in the Wireless Gate area, said many residents rushed to safety in panic on hearing a loud bang.
