Five members of a family, including two children, have suffered burn injuries after an explosion caused fire in their house in Kamrangirchar, Dhaka early on Friday.
The incident took place on the ground-floor flat of a two-storey house in Kamrangirchar’s Siletta Bazar area at around 3:45am, police said.
The survivors were rescued and taken to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
They are Abdul Matin, 40, his wife Yasmin, 35, their nine-year-old and five-year-old daughters, and Yasmin’s nephew Raihan, 25.
Four of the survivors are in critical condition, hospital sources said.
Md Bachchu Miah, in-charge of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) police outpost, confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune.
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune, Yasmin’s relative Towhid said the family in a flat on the ground floor of the two-storey building.
In the room adjacent to the family’s residence, there was an easybike battery that was plugged for charging the night before.
“We suspect the battery might have exploded and caused the fire,” he added.
Locals rescued the family and rushed to the national burn institute.
Dr Partha Sankar Paul, resident physician at the burn institute, said among the five injured, Raihan, who suffered 10-12% burns, were released after primary treatment.
“The family is in critical condition with serious burn injuries,” he said.
He said Yasmin had been burnt the worst, sustaining 95% burn injuries, while Matin suffered 92% burn injuries, their nine-year-old 45%, and the five-year-old suffered 42% burns.
