At least 13 people, including the mayor and councilor of Mirkadim pourasava (municipality) in Munshiganj, were injured in an explosion at around 8:30 pm on Tuesday.
Nine of them have been sent to Dhaka Medical College in critical condition.
The injured are claiming that the incident took place due to the blast of a bomb thrown by miscreants while the investigating police said it could occur from gas leakage.
The injured are Mirkadim pourasava mayor Abdus Salam, 55, his wife Kanan Begum, 40, panel mayor Rahim Badsha, 45, Aulad Hossain, 42, Tajul Islam, 25, Moinuddin, 44, Mosharraf Hossain, 42, Shyamal Das, 45, Panna Miah, 50, Kalu Miah, 40, Idris Ali, 50, Md Sohail, 52 and Dwin Islam, 40.
Locals said, they heard screams coming from the mayor’s house and rushed to the spot to find fire.
One of the injured Aulad Hossain’s cousin said the explosion occurred when the mayor had a meeting with all the councilors and staff of pourasava.
Physician of Munshiganj General Hospital Shoibal Basak said, nine of the injured had 30-40 per cent burns and they have been sent to Dhaka Medical College burn unit.
A woman among the injured is in critical condition, he added.
Munshiganj sadar police station inspector (investigation) Rajib Khan told Prothom Alo that they heard about the incident around 8.30 pm. He immediately went to the spot and found no sign of a bomb. Yet a bomb expert team has been called.
Necessary action will be taken on the basis of their information and subject to investigation, he said.
Munshiganj DB police inspector Mozammel Haque said they also went there immediately after the incident and found no signs of any bomb at the scene.
DB police suspected that the explosion occurred due to gas leakage that spread throughout the house. The house caught fire as soon as a matchstick was lit.