Couple dies in gas cylinder explosion in Dhaka
A couple died in a gas cylinder explosion in a building at Sayednagar in Bhatara area in the capital on Thursday morning.
The deceased were identified as Abdul Majid Shikder (72) and Taslima Akter (47), Bhatara police station officer-in-charge Muhammad Asaduzzaman said.
He said that the police recovered the bodies of the couple by breaking the doors from their apartment on the second floor of the building after receiving a phone call from the neighbors.
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Quoting the neighbors, police told The Business Standard that the couple had been living in the flat for months while their two sons live in Italy.
"Neighbors heard the sound of an explosion at around 5:30am and saw flames in the kitchen of the flat. They suddenly rushed to the flat but failed to douse the fire and enter into it," said OC Asaduzzaman, adding: Then they called the police.
"In the meantime, police also reached the spot and the neighbors found the couple charcoaled inside the flat," said Bhatara police station Inspector Rafiqul Haque.
Fire service and civil defense officials suspect that the explosion might have been triggered from a gas cylinder leakage when they woke up in the early hours and were going to boil water before the morning prayers.
"The couple's sons are in Italy now. We have sent the bodies to the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital for autopsy and an investigation has also been launched over the explosion," Rafiqul Haque added.
