Four of a family injured after Keraniganj AC blast

Doctors say three of them sustained airway burns after the blast at their home

Four members of a family have been injured after an air-conditioner compressor exploded at a house in Keraniganj Model Town near Dhaka.

The incident occurred around midnight, but the family was taken to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery around 1:15pm on Saturday after they developed breathing difficulties, according to Shawon Bin Rahman, resident surgeon at the institute.

“Three of them have sustained burns to their airways. Another is also suspected to have airway burns,” he said.

The injured were all identified by single names as Mamun, 45, his wife Lucky, 38, and their two sons, Mihad, 16, and Siam.

Lucky’s sister Faria said the family lived on the second floor of a two-storey house in the area. A blast in an AC unit on the ground floor at midnight sent flames up to the second floor, where her sister’s flat caught fire. No one was burnt initially, so they were not taken to hospital right away.

“By morning, they were struggling to breathe, with burning sensations in their noses and mouths, and coughing up black soot. That’s when I rushed them to hospital,” she said.