Staff Reporter :
Another victim of the fatal collapse of a Moghbazar building triggered by an explosion has succumbed to his injuries, raising the death toll to 12.
Subhash Chandra Saha, 62, died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital at the early hours of Tuesday, said Inspector Modasser Kaiser of the CTTC unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
A Comilla native, Saha was hospitalized with severe head injuries after the horrific explosion triggered the partial collapse of a building on the night of June 27. He was a passenger on one of the city buses that were on the street.
Saha, who lived at the capital’s Islampur with his family, had been moved to intensive care (ICU) after his condition deteriorated Monday night, said Inspector Kaiser.
On Sunday, Fire Service officials detected a gas leak on the ground floor of the building, Rakhi Neer, that partially collapsed following the massive explosion.
Also read- Fire Service detects gas leakage in Moghbazar explosion site However, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd have refuted the claim and alleges that the gas was leaking from a nearby line on the street.
A team of firefighters reached the spot around 9am on Sunday. “We are working to find the exact source of the leak,” Dinomoni Sharma, deputy director (Dhaka division) of Fire Service and Civil Defence, told the media.
“Gas is emitting from the surface of the damaged building’s ground floor. However, the leak is not that dangerous,” the fire official added.
The authorities, following preliminary investigation, blamed “leaked gas” for the June 27 explosion.
The Fire Service, immediately after the explosion, formed a five-member probe committee which was supposed to submit their findings in seven days. When asked about the probe status, Dinomoni Sharma said they were still investigating the incident.
Ali Iqbal Md Nurullah, managing director of Titas Gas, dismissed the reports of a gas leak inside the building.
“I think the gas is emitting from the streets. Out officials are working on it,” he told the media.
The Titas Gas MD, after visiting the site on June 28, told reporters on spot that they had no gas connection to Shawarma House, the explosion site, and the buildings on the either side of it.
On that same day, after visiting the explosion site, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed initially suspected that the blast might have been caused by a gas leakage as he had smelled methane gas at the site.
At least six probe bodies were formed by different government agencies centring the Moghbazar explosion.
