Huge explosion in Gazipur restaurant wounds 18

At least 18 people have been injured in a huge explosion that destroyed two restaurants in Gazipur’s Board Bazar area, according to a fire service official.

The blast occurred on the premises of the adjoined Banglar Radhuni and Tripti restaurants along the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway around 2am on Sunday, said Gazipur Fire Service Deputy Director Abdullah Al Mamun.

The injured are all staffers of the two restaurants. They have been sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment.

"Eyewitnesses are speculating that the explosion was triggered by a gas leak. Besides gas pipelines, the two hotels also contained gas cylinders. But exactly how the explosion occurred can be explained at the end of the investigation,” said Abdullah Al Mamun, the deputy assistant director of Gazipur Fire Service.

The two restaurants are located on the ground floor of two adjacent three- and four- storey buildings, said Gacha Police Station OC Ismail Hossain. A sewerage line passes through the restaurants, he added. 

“The line was covered. It could be that it was clogged by dirt which led to the accumulation of gas inside. During the previous Ramadan, an explosion rocked the same sewerage line some distance away.”

The entire area was rocked by the explosion, said a local resident. The blast originated in Banglar Radhuni Restaurant, he speculated.

Three units of Tongi Fire Service rushed to the spot on receiving the news.

Before that, locals rescued the injured and took them to Tairunnessa Memorial Medical College & Hospital. From there, the 18 were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

“We went to the spot after being informed of the explosion and fire. The walls of the hotels have collapsed, the plasters have come off but the fire did not spread,” said Md Zakaria Khan, senior station officer of Gazipur fire station.