A balloon vendor was killed and two students were injured in a gas cylinder blast on the annual sports day celebration at Dhaka Shiksha Board Laboratory School and College on Friday. The celebration however turned tragic after the incident. The vendor was pumping helium into balloons on a van at that time. The sound of blast was so loud that some students got fainted near the spot. The incident created panic among the guardians as well as students. The school principal had to postpone the programme instantly after the incident.
Such fatal explosions are all too common across the country. In the recent days, we often get reports of using helium and other toxic and non-toxic gases by the balloon vendors. Usually, balloons are widely used in all sorts of parties and celebrations. So, using balloons is not only a children’s affair. It’s a matter of great concern that, sometimes it could be harmful for human health. Though helium is not poisonous as it is an inert gas, it can be an asphyxiant when inhaled instead of normal air. According to medical science, breathing just helium, or any inert gas, creates an absence of oxygen. In that case, the helium displaces the air, including the required oxygen, in the lungs.
There is another deadly side. Keeping some sorts of gases in high-pressured cylinder is dangerous and deadly. In February, 2017, two balloon vendors were killed and two others injured when a gas cylinder exploded at Jatrabari in the city. Officials of the Department of Explosives had said that the cylinder was old, rusty and had no history of safety tests or any device attached to indicate the pressure inside.
We know, sometimes the vendors collect poor quality cylinders in a low price to run their business. What’s very unfortunate is that, DoE which authorises the procurement and use of all kinds of gas cylinders, don’t show minimum interest as to how and from where the cylinders are bought by the vendors. Even, the law enforcement agencies don’t take any initiative to check the risky gas cylinder.
The authorities concerned must take immediate step to check such type of deadly incident in the future.
