4 of a family burnt in explosion at multi-storied building

Four people including a child and two women were injured in an explosion and a fire at a multi-storied building in Sadar upazila in Munshiganj on Saturday.

The incident took place on the fourth floor of a multi-storied residential building adjacent the Sadar upazila parishad in Idrakpur area of the Munshiganj town at around 6:30pm.

The injured were Md Rizvi, an officer of the one-stop crisis cell at Munshiganj General Hospital, his wife Rozy Begum, 30, the couple’s two-and-a-half-year-old son Md Raiyan, and Shaeda Begum, 65, mother of Rizvi.

They resided at apartment no. 12 on the 4th floor of that building. They all were sent to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka.

It has been learned after talking to locals that people went outside at around 6:30am after hearing a loud bang, they then saw fire burning the 4th floor of the that residential building and heard people screaming.

On information, fire services rushed to the spot and rescued the injured and sent them to the Munshiganj Ggeneral Hospital.

Munshiganj Ggeneral Hospital’s emergency department physician SM Ferdaous told Prothom Alo four people with burn injuries were brought to the hospital around 7:00am. Of them, an elderly woman was in critical condition. All of them were shifted to Dhaka after giving first aid.

Visiting the apartment around 8:30am, people were seen crowding near the building. Explosion marks were seen everywhere. Doors and windows were seen broken at all apartments on 1st floor to 3rd floor. Everything was burnt at the apartment no. 12. There was extreme heat at the time too.

Munshiganj Fire Service senior station officer Md Abu Yusuf told Prothom Alo that two fire-fighting units rushed to the spot and douse the flame after 20 minutes. They primarily suspect the fire might originate from electric short circuit or some machine, he added.

About explosion and damage, Abu Yusuf said, “We found no evidence of explosives or gas. We think all windows and doors were closed. Fire accumulates huge force in closed room. When any member of the family opened a door, oxygen entered the apartment and caused the explosion, damaging the flat and all other rooms of the building.”