Child dies, taking death toll from Ashulia gas cylinder warehouse blast to four

Sohag, the nine-year-old son of blast victim Shariful Islam, succumbed to his burn injuries

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 22 May 2023, 07:21 AM
Updated : 22 May 2023, 07:21 AM

Sohag, the nine-year-old son of Ashulia gas cylinder warehouse blast victim Shariful Islam, also succumbed to burn injuries, taking the death toll from the incident to four.

Another victim - Mahbub, 35 - has burns on 26 percent of his body and is still in danger at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.

Sohag, who sustained burns to 20 percent of his body, passed away while undergoing treatment at the hospital on Monday, said Ayub Hossain, resident surgeon at the institute.

Two other victims, Md Billal Hossain, 36, the warehouse owner, and his employee Nur Nabi, 22, succumbed to the burn injuries earlier on Tuesday.

Sohag’s father Shariful died a week ago.

The explosion occurred at a gas cylinder warehouse in the Tetultala area near Fantasy Kingdom in Ashulia early on May 13, 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 a 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.