Home
+
He said the majority of the 32 patients at Dhaka's Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery are in critical condition
Published : 14 Mar 2024, 01:35 PM
Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen has called on doctors to do everything in their power to aid the survivors of a fire ignited by a gas cylinder explosion in Gazipur's Kaliakair.
The minister noted that most of the 32 patients hospitalised at Dhaka's Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery are in a precarious state.
"The physical suffering of burn patients is great. Each patient needs to be treated as if they were your own family," he said.
"While it might not be possible to save all, it's crucial that we don't let any patient feel overlooked."
Sen also mentioned that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is closely monitoring the patients' treatment progress and has confirmed that the government will bear the treatment costs.
On Wednesday, a fire erupted after a cylinder explosion in the Mouchak Tilerchala neighbourhood of Kaliakair around 5:45pm.
Witnesses and victims recounted that a family left a kitchen cylinder, wrapped in wet cloth, in an alley after gas started leaking from it. The cylinder was emitting gas with a hissing sound, drawing the attention of curious passersby, including women and children.
The street was also crowded at the time as garment factory workers and others were returning home for Iftar just before sunset.
But all hell broke loose when someone lit a stove in a nearby house, sparking a blaze that engulfed dozens.
The victims were rushed to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery following the incident.
Initially, it was reported that 34 people were hospitalised with burn injuries. But the figure was corrected to 32 on Thursday morning.
A doctor at the institute said that a person's name was recorded twice in the list of patients that was made at night. The name of a patient from Chattogram was also incorrectly added to the list.
Among the victims, 16 have suffered burns on more than half of their bodies, according to SM Ayub Hossain, an assistant professor at the institute. Five of them have been kept in intensive care.
Patients with burns covering 50-100 percent of their bodies are classified in the 'black' category. As many as 16 patients from Gazipur fall in that category.
Among them, 30-year-old Monsoor has suffered full-body burns, while 13 others have burns on at least 80 percent of their bodies.
The other categories of burn victims based on the extent of their injuries are 'red', for burns covering 20-49 percent of the body, 'yellow' for 5-19 percent, and 'green' for less than 5 percent.
Among the survivors, eight are categorised as 'red', five as 'yellow', and three as 'green'.
