Restaurant cylinder gas fire burns 4 workers before Iftar in Dhaka’s Malibagh

The incident occurs amid a fire safety crackdown on eateries after the deadly restaurant building blaze

A fire from a leaked gas cylinder pipe has burnt four workers, one of them critically, at a restaurant in Dhaka’s Malibagh.

The critically burnt victim Hannan Hosain, 28, was admitted to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery after the incident at Shahjalal Hotel and Restaurant just before Iftar on Wednesday.   

Resident physician Md Tarikul Islam said Hannan had 65 percent of his body surface burnt.  

Rubel, a cousin of Hannan who gave a single name, said Hannan was the naan and grilled chicken chef of the restaurant at Malibagh bend. 

The three other injured workers were admitted to the burns unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. 

They are Md Sabuj, 20, Md Maruf, 16, and Julhas, 18, who was identified with a single name.  

Inspector Md Bachchu Mia, in charge of the police camp at the hospital, said they had burns in their hands and legs. 

Their coworker Md Towhid said they were frying and selling fritters for Iftar by setting up a table in front of the eatery when gas from a leaked cylinder pipe started a fire and burnt the four people. 

Ershad Hossain, the duty officer at the control room of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, said two units of the firefighters rushed to the site, but the locals had already doused the fire. 

The incident occurred amid a crackdown on eateries over fire safety after a blaze in a restaurant building on Bailey Road killed 46 people on Feb 29 night.

On Mar 13, a fire fuelled by gas from a faulty cylinder left on a street injured dozens of curious onlookers in Gazipur’s Kaliakair. 

As many as 14 of them have succumbed to their injuries at the national burn institute until Wednesday morning while 15 others were fighting for their lives.