Woman, son burnt in ‘fire from kitchen gas line leak’ in Narayanganj

The 50-year-old woman is admitted to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka in a critical condition

A woman and her son have been burnt in a fire suspected to be caused by gas accumulated from a leak in the kitchen pipeline in Narayanganj.

The victims – Sima Begum, 50, and her son Roman Hossain, 25 – were admitted to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka after the incident in the Mollapara area of Nitaiganj on Saturday morning.

Sima, with 60 percent of her body burnt, was undergoing treatment in the High Dependency Unit in a critical condition, said Tariqull Islam, resident surgeon of the institute.

The fire burnt 40 percent of Roman’s body and he was under observation.

Sima and Roman live in a second-floor flat of the building, her younger sister Shaheda Begum said.

Sima smelt gas on Friday night, but did not take any safety measures, said Shaheda.

After waking up in the morning, Sima lit the kitchen stove and the fire spread throughout the flat.

Neighbours rushed them to Narayanganj General Hospital from where they were transferred to the burn institute in Dhaka.

Fakharuddin Ahmed, an official at Narayanganj Fire Service and Civil Defence, said they learnt about the incident from other sources, but no one from the locality or the family informed them. “We’ll look into it,” he said.