20230502 2-year old child among 9 burnt in Dhupkhola gas fire that guts 3 shops
Bangladesh May 02 2023 “Building” “Stores”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 1 to 9
2-year old child among 9 burnt in Dhupkhola gas fire that guts 3 shops
Updated: 2023-05-02
A 2-year-old child and eight other people have been burnt and three grocery stores were gutted in a fire when the gas line was damaged during the digging of a water pipeline for the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority in Gandaria’s Dhupkhola.
At least two engines of the Fire Service and Civil Defence went to the scene after they were informed at 9:27am about a fire breaking out at a shop near the Dhupkhola field on Sunday.
The flames were completely tamed after 45 minutes of effort, said Duty Officer Lima Khanam of the Fire Service Control Room.
Among the victims, six were admitted to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery and the remaining three to the burns unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment.
The injured are – grocer Abdur Rahim, 50; his daughter Mim Akhter, 21; Mim’s son Md Alif, 2; Mehedi Hasan, 25, a student of Jagannath University; Md Sohel, 48; Ali Hossain, 52; Rashed Mia, 32; Sahara Begum, 65; and Mizanur Rahman, 32.
According to doctors, only Rahim suffered 43 percent burns, while the rest suffered comparatively minor burns.
At the hospital, Mim said her father’s grocery store and their adjacent house were located near the Dhupkhola fish market. At the time of the accident, Mim was at home with his son while his father was at the store.
Mim recounted that there was ongoing work by the WASA to dig drains for water lines near the gas line in front of the shop. Suddenly, a loud explosion caused the stores to catch fire.
Abu Saeed Al Mamun, the officer-in-charge of Gendaria Police Station, told bdnews24.com that WASA had been working on the installation of water lines in the area for a few days, including on Sunday.
He said during the work, the gas line passing by the most damaged store had leaked for some unknown reason.
Mamun believed gas had accumulated in the store from the previous day’s leakage, and it caught fire with an explosion after the store opened in the morning.
Two adjacent shops had suffered minor damages due to the fire, he added.
Sharif Hossain, an engineer with the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, told bdnews24.com, “The WASA contractor was making a hole to install water pipes from one manhole to another with a special type of hydraulic drill machine. A one-inch gas line pipe broke while doing this.”
According to Sharif, there was a manhole in front of the store where gas was accumulated. He added that the store caught fire after someone ignited a fire there.
Sabiul Ayyal, the manager of Titas for the south zone, told bdnews24.com that his team had arrived at the scene and stopped the gas supply.
Some houses in the area had their gas connection cut off, and residents were advised to contact the police to report the incident, said Sabiul.
Once a complaint is filed, gas supply would be restored to the affected houses, he added. Neither WASA nor their contractor responded to bdnews24.com’s request for comments.
Web Source: BDNews24