Death toll from Gazipur gas cylinder fire rises to 5 as 2 more victims die

Ariful Islam and Mahidul Khan succumb to their injuries during treatment at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery

Two more victims have succumbed to injuries suffered in a fire ignited by a gas leak from a defective cylinder in Gazipur's Kaliakair, bringing the death toll to five.

Ariful Islam, 38, and Mahidul Khan, 25, died during treatment at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery early on Sunday morning.

Ariful suffered burns on 70 percent of his body, while 95 percent of Mahidul's body was burnt, according to Partha Shankar Pal, a resident physician at the burn institute. They were both fighting for their lives in the facility's intensive care unit.

Ariful, a native of Rajshahi, worked as an ironer at a garment factory in Gazipur.

The youngest of three siblings, he lived with his wife Sumi Akhter in Kaliakair's Topstar area.

Sirajganj native Mahidul, another Topstar resident, worked at a garment warehouse. His wife, 22-year-old Nargis, was also injured in the incident and admitted to the burn institute. She suffered burns on 90 percent of her body.

Earlier on Saturday, 4-year-old Taiyeba and 45-year-old Monsoor Ali Akand passed away in hospital care, a day after the death of 45-year-old Soleman Molla.

On Mar 13, a fire sparked by a defective gas cylinder spread to the street in the Mouchak Tilerchala neighbourhood of Kaliakair.

Witnesses and victims recounted that a family left the kitchen cylinder, wrapped in wet cloth, in the alley after gas started leaking from it. The cylinder was emitting gas with a hissing sound, drawing the attention of curious passersby, including women and children.

The street was also crowded at the time as garment factory workers and others were returning home for Iftar just before sunset.

But the situation took a dire turn when someone lit a stove in a nearby house, sparking a blaze that injured dozens.

As many as 32 people were subsequently rushed to the national burn institute. Half of them suffered burns on over 50 percent of their body surface.

Currently, 24 victims of the Gazipur incident are undergoing treatment at the hospital, according to Tariqul Islam, resident surgeon at the burn institute's emergency department. Among them, 16 are in critical condition.