Death toll in Ashulia gas cylinder warehouse blast rises to three

Two other victims injured in the incident are receiving treatment at the burn institute in Dhaka

Two more people have succumbed to the burn injuries sustained from a gas cylinder warehouse blast in Dhaka’s Ashulia, taking the death toll to three.

Md Billal Hossain, 36, the owner of the warehouse, and his employee Nur Nabi, 22, died while undergoing treatment at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery on Wednesday, said Ayub Hossain, resident surgeon at the institute.

Billal hailed from Rangpur and Nur Nabi from Tangail Sadar Upazila. They suffered damage to their trachea in the blast.

According to Ayub, Billal sustained burns to 36 percent of his body and Nur Nabi to 43 percent of his body.

Among the five people injured in the incident, another man named Shariful Islam, 32, died earlier on Monday.

Sohag, the nine-year-old son of Shariful, and Mahbub, 35, are receiving treatment at the burn institute. Mahbub has burns on 26 percent of his body and Sohag on 20 percent of his body, Ayub said.

The explosion occurred at a gas cylinder warehouse in the Tetultala area near Fantasy Kingdom in Ashulia early on Saturday, said DEPZ Fire Service Warehouse Inspector Wali Ullah.

The walls of the tin-shed warehouse collapsed after the explosion caused a massive fire, injuring five people including Billal and his two employees.

The injured were initially taken to a local health centre. An on-duty doctor later sent them to the burn institute in Dhaka.

In addition to storing gas cylinders, the warehouse refilled gas from bigger cylinders to smaller ones illegally, Wali Ullah had previously told bdnews24.com.

The locals said the warehouse, known by its owner Billal’s name, was operated at a rented house within a residential area. Such warehouses are located in the neighbourhood where illegal refilling operations often take place at night.

A similar explosion was reported at another gas cylinder warehouse in Ashulia’s Katghora area on May 4.