Titas gas supply line catches fire in Gazipur

A supply line of the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited beside the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in Gazipur’s Sreepur caught fire after it was damaged on Thursday evening.

The pipe developed a leak and caught fire right away after an excavator machine deployed in the highway’s widening work ruptured it, police said.

Mawna Highway Police Station OC Sanwar Hossain told bdnews24.com that the incident occurred around 6:45pm in the Upazila’s Garhgarhia Masterbarhi area.

But fire-fighting units from Gazipur and Sreepur doused the flames around 8:30pm, he said.

He added the flames had leaped 20 to 30 feet damaging at least 20 nearby shops and halting the traffic. But there were no reports of any casualties so far.

However, vehicles on the busy highway began moving again around 8:55pm after the nearly two-hour halt, said OC Hossain.

The excavator is a part of the construction works going on to turn the existing two lanes on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway into four lanes in a bid to ease the pressure of vehicles.

Meanwhile, Titas Director (Operations) Mir Moshiur Rahman told bdnews24.com gas supply on that pipe was stopped immediately and the fire was put out with the help of fire-fighters.

He said repairs of the pipe were underway and hoped the accident would not hinder supply to capital Dhaka and adjacent areas.