Conflicting claims emerge after deadly explosion in Chattogram

Fire service officials initially claimed the explosion that knocked down parts of a building in Chattogram’s Patharghata killing seven people occurred from gas line.

Police and officials of the Department of Explosives backed the claim after the blast on Sunday morning, but the government’s utility agency Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited or KGDCL has denied any responsibilities.

The gas riser of the building is located beside the boundary wall on the ground floor of the structure where the explosion took place, Purnachandra Mutsuddi, deputy director of Chattogram Fire Service and Civil Defence, told bdnews24.com.

At least seven people have died after a gas pipeline exploded on the ground floor of a building in Patharghata Brick Field Road in Chattogram on Sunday. Photo: Suman Babu

“Maybe there was a problem with the gas riser. Perhaps gas had accumulated there as a result of a leak. Someone may have lit a fire in the house which triggered the explosion.”

“The explosion occurred when a matchstick was lit in the prayer room,” said Hasan Shahriar Kabir, the divisional director of Chattogram health directorate, citing injured residents Sandhya Nath and Arpita Nath.

But KGDCL General Manager (Marketing) ANM Saleque, after visiting the site in the afternoon, claimed the explosion did not occur due to any leak or any other glitch in the gas line.

A three-wheeler vehicle became mangled metal after being hit by a gas pipeline explosion that took place in a building in Patharghata Brick Field Road in Chattogram on Sunday, leaving at least seven people dead. Photo: Suman Babu

“The stove cannot remain intact if the explosion occurred from gas line. The stove was not damaged here. The clothes hung for drying in the room were not burnt either. The gas riser was unharmed,” he said.

The company has formed a four-strong committee headed by General Manager (Engineering and Services) Sarwar Hossain to investigate the explosion.

Sarwar told bdnews24.com in the evening they had already begun working.

He backed Saleque’s claims saying the kitchen was unharmed which would not have been possible had the gas line caused the blast.

“And there would have been fire for a long time if the explosion was triggered by a gas line leak, but there was a little damage from fire,” he added.

Relatives mourn loved ones who lost their lives in the deadly gas pipeline explosion took place on the ground floor of a building in Patharghata Brick Field Road in Chattogram on Sunday. Photo: Suman Babu

Asked what would cause the blast then, Sarwar said he suspected the septic tank of the building could be the culprit. “But it can’t be confirmed before the end of investigation,” he added.

The Department of Explosives Inspector Tofazzal Hossain, however, told bdnews24.com that the gas line and riser of the building were very old.

“And the pipe was not wrapped up with rubber as it was supposed to be. We believe gas came out through a leak in the pipe and accumulated in the room,” he said.

A spark in electric switch board or the lighting of a matchstick might have triggered the explosion later, Tofazzal added.

In his opinion, a fire from such source ends swiftly once the gas runs out.

He believes it should also be checked whether there was a leak or the stove was left open overnight.