Sutrapur 'gas blast': Two brothers die, raising toll to 3

The fatalities bring the death toll from the fire to three

Two more members of a family of five burnt in an explosion sparked by a suspected gas leak at a house in Dhaka's Sutrapur have died, bringing the death toll from the incident to three.

The victims were identified as Md Rokon, 12, and his elder brother Md Tamim, 16. They were both undergoing treatment at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.

Rokon died around 2:45am on Wednesday, with burns on 60 percent burn of his body and respiratory tract damage, according to Dr Shawon Bin Rahman, resident surgeon at the institute's emergency department. Meanwhile, Tamim succumbed to his wounds around 8:15am. He had suffered burns on 42 percent of his body, said Dr Shawon.

Their sister Ayesha Akter, one-and-a-half-years old, passed away around 10:30pm on Tuesday.

The blast occurred around 2am on Jul 11 at the family's house in the Kagojitola neighbourhood.

The victims were subsequently rescued and taken to the burn institute around 3:30am.

The surviving victims are van driver Ripon, 35, and his wife Mosammat Chandni, 32.

They are both in critical condition, according to Dr Shawon.

“Ripon has burns on 60 percent of his body and Chandni on 45. They have burns on their windpipe as well.”

The family hails from the Jugir Haola area of Patuakhali’s Rangabali Thana. They rent a home on the ground floor of a five-storey building.

Ripon’s uncle Zakir Hossain said that everyone was asleep at night when there was a sudden explosion and they were burnt by a fire. The fire also damaged the furniture in the house. Neighbouring tenants rescued the family and took them to the hospital.

It is believed the fire may have started from a “gas leak”.

Inspector Mahmud Hasan Nayeem of Sutrapur Police Station said, “The fire may have sparked when a mosquito coil or cigarette ignited accumulated gas.”

The damages from the fire are approximately Tk 100,000, he said.