Another Uttara gas explosion victim dies

Riya Akter is the third member of her family to succumb to injuries from the blast

The explosion at Uttara’s Kamarpara has claimed one more life.

Riya Akter, 25, died around 4:45pm on Wednesday while undergoing treatment at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.

She had suffered burns to 32 percent of her body, according to the institute’s Assistant Professor Shawon Bin Rahman.

Seven others injured in the incident are still undergoing treatment.

Earlier, Riya’s younger sister, 24-year-old Sonia Akter and her cousin’s husband 30-year-old Enayet Ali, a Dubai expatriate, had also died from their injuries.

Sonia’s husband, identified only as Rubel, 27, their 3-year-old daughter known with a single name Roja, Enayet’s wife Dulara Khatun, 28, and son Junayed, 17, are among the seven others currently hospitalised with varying degrees of burns.

The tragedy occurred in the early hours of Mar 6, when a powerful blast ripped through the first floor of a building on Bamnartek Graveyard Road.

Police believe the explosion was caused by a gas cylinder leak.

Ten people were admitted to the institute at 5am on the morning of the accident.

Sazed Matobbor, a neighbour and Enayet’s nephew, said Rubel, Sonia and their child lived in the first-floor flat. Rubel worked as a motorcycle ride-share driver.

Enayet, an expatriate living in Dubai, had come to Bangladesh on leave and was visiting a cousin’s house with his family when he was injured in the explosion.

They originally hailed from Madaripur’s Shibchar Upazila.