Cylinder blast leaves five dead in city

MNA National Desk: At least five persons, including four children, were killed and seven others injured in a gas cylinder blast near a school in Rupnagar Residential area in the capital’s Mirpur on Wednesday afternoon.

“The cylinder exploded when a vendor was pumping up balloons in Monipur School area around 3:30 pm, leaving five people dead on the spot and seven others critically injured,” Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Rupnagar Police Station Abdul Kalam Azad said, report BSS, bdnews24.com and UNB.

Rupnagar Police Inspector Mokammel Hoque said, “The van was surrounded by a lot of people, some of whom were buying balloons, when the cylinder suddenly exploded.”

Three units of the fire service were dispatched to the scene to conduct the rescue efforts, said Anwar Hossain, a senior fire service official.

“Four of the victims were children while the other was a woman aged about 30.”

The dead children were identified only as Ramzan, 8, Nupur, 10, Shahin, 7, and Jannat, 14.

The identity of the rest victim could not be known immediately.

Dipak Kumar Das, inspector (investigation) of Rupnagar thana, said the injured were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

Dipak said the death toll may go up as the conditions of the many injured are critical.

Bacchu Mia, inspector of DMCH’s police outpost, said among the injured victims, four are adults while the rest are children.

“Two of the injured are in critical condition according to doctors,” Bacchu Mia said .