Staff Reporter :Two persons sustained burn injuries in a fire incident that broke out from leakage of the gas pipeline at their kitchen room in the city’s East Rampura on Friday.The victims were identified as Rakib, 22, a first year student of Habibullah Bahar College, and Sajib, 26, a tailoring master hailed from Doulatpur village of Muradnagar upazila in Comilla district. They were rushed to the Burn Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital [DMCH] in a critical condition.The two received burn injuries while lightning up cigarette in the kitchen around 3 am. Mamun, elder brother of Sajib quoting doctors of DMCH, said Rakib received 25 percent burns in his body, while Sajib got 20 percent burns.Police suspect that somebody earlier did not lock the gas stove after completing cooking, which resulted quick fire in the house. “The blast shattered nearby buildings. We think someone of the house kept the switch on,” Officer -in -Charge of Badda Police Station Abdul Jalil said. In another incident, a mother and her two sons received severe burn injuries when a gas cylinder exploded in their house at Pagla Chittashal area under Fatullah police station in Narayanganj district early Friday. The victims were identified as Afinur Begum, 40, and her two sons Shakil, 12, and Shamim, 8. They were admitted to DMCH in a critical condition. OC of Fatulla Police Station Asaduzzaman said, “The fire originated when Afinur Begum went to the kitchen to light her gas oven. At that time she and her two sons received burn injuries in different parts of their bodies.”The explosion of gas stove was so powerful that all the windows and doors of their house were damaged. Primarily, we suspect that the explosion occurred due to leakage of gas through pipe,” the OC said.At least two dozen people received severe injuries due to explosions of gas cylinder in the recent days, official sources of Fire Service and Civil Defense said. Last week, three persons including the housewife received severe burn injuries when gas stove exploded in a house at Agamachhi Lane under Bangshal police station. The burn injured Parveen Begum,45, Delwar Hossain, 30, and Abdul Malek, 35, are still undergoing treatment at DMCH Burn Unit for recovery. Domestic gas cylinder explosions are common in Bangladesh, where safety standards are relatively poor. Although reports of fatal accidents from cylinder blasts are frequent, mass casualties are still remain high, according to officials.
