Gas leak explosion in Fatullah: No one from family of 5 survives

Another woman named Saima injured in the explosion caused by a gas line leak in Fatullah of Narayanganj’s Sadar upazila has died, taking the death toll from the same family to five. No one from the family survived.

Saima, 32, died at around 8:45 am today, Friday, while undergoing treatment in the ICU of the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka. Sixty per cent of her body and her respiratory tract had been burned. Saima was the daughter of Abdus Salam from Kamakdia area of Bauphal upazila in Patuakhali. Her husband, Md Kalam, died from burn injuries last Monday morning.

Earlier, the couple’s son Munna, 7, died at around 9:45 am on Thursday, followed by their daughter Munni, 10, later in the afternoon. In the same incident, Md Kalam, 35, died on Monday morning, while another daughter, Kotha, 7, died on Wednesday evening.

The victims had been living in a rented flat on the western side of the ground floor of a nine-storey building owned by Shahjahan Mia on Road No. 6 in the Uttar Bhuigarh Giridhara area of Fatullah in Narayanganj Sadar upazila. Their ancestral home is in Barukdia area of Bauphal upazila in Patuakhali. Md Kalam worked as a vegetable seller.

Shawon Bin Rahman, resident physician at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, said all five members of the same family who were undergoing treatment after suffering burns in the explosion had died. Sixty per cent of Saima’s body and her airways had been burned. Earlier, Munna had suffered burns to 40 per cent of his body, Munni 35 per cent, Kotha 52 per cent and Kalam 95 per cent.

The explosion occurred at dawn last Sunday in a ground-floor flat of a nine-storey building in the Uttar Bhuigarh Giridhara area of Narayanganj Sadar upazila. Vegetable seller Md Kalam, his wife Saima, son Munna and daughters Munni and Kotha suffered burn injuries in the incident. They were later rescued in critical condition and admitted to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.

According to the Fire Service, gas leaking from the kitchen pipeline had accumulated inside the room. The explosion occurred with a loud bang when the stove or a lighter was ignited at dawn.