Powerful explosion in Dhaka kills 7, injures hundreds; Police suspect gas leak

TIL Desk/World/Dhaka/ A powerful explosion that destroyed an old three-storey building in a crowded area here in Bangladesh”s capital and killed at least seven people and injured around 400 others may have been caused by a faulty gas line or gas cylinders, authorities said on Monday.

Police have ruled out any foul play behind the horrific explosion in Moghbazar area at around 7.30 PM on Sunday and said the initial investigation of the site suggests that the explosion might have been caused by “gas accumulation”.

Authorities suspect the building that collapsed was the epicentre of the explosion as it had a restaurant and a faulty gas line or gas cylinders used by it could be the reason behind the blast. The blast was so powerful that the shock wave smashed the glasses of nearly a dozen buildings around it.

Seven nearby buildings and two passenger buses were badly damaged in the blast that killed seven people and injured 400, some 50 of them critically, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Shafiqul Islam said late Sunday. The severely injured were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.