For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
Seven people burnt in two separate fires that started during efforts to repair a gas leak in a home in the capital’s Shahjahanpur on Tuesday.
Three people were wounded in the first incident that occurred in the ground-floor apartment on Tuesday morning. The second incident left four others injured in the evening, according to a bdnews24.com report.
The victims have been identified as Md Bacchu Mia, 45, Mintu Howladar, 40, his daughter Maria Israt, 19, sanitary worker Monir Hossain, 41, Ali Akbar, 35, Md Delowar, 41, and Siraj Sheikh, 40.
Six of them received treatment at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, according to the facility's resident physician Tariqul Islam.
Mintu and Akbar were admitted to the institute with 40 per cent and 22 per cent of their bodies burnt, he said. Delowar had burns on eight per cent of his body and was kept under observation. The others suffered minor burns and were given first aid.
The smell of gas often permeated the flat's bathroom and kitchen, according to Delowar’s brother Jalal.
A security guard attempted to locate and fix the issue in the morning, which led to the first fire. Later, a sanitary worker was called in for repairs, which resulted in another fire.
Sujit Kumar Saha, the chief of Shahjahanpur Police Station, said that the fires were caused by gas accumulation, triggering a minor explosion during the repair efforts.