A fire broke out on Zakir Hossain Road in Chattogram’s Foy’s Lake area on Sunday afternoon due to a leak in an underground gas pipeline, spreading panic among locals.
The incident occurred around 1pm. Fire Service personnel rushed to the scene and brought the blaze under control quickly.
A visit to the scene revealed that gas was leaking from a pipeline running through a drain beside the road. Moments later, the gas caught fire, with flames erupting from underneath the road.
Eyewitnesses said a lamp on an electric pole beside the road suddenly exploded. The subsequent sparks from the explosion ignited the gas.
Senior Station Officer of Agrabad Station Md Zahirul Islam said they received a call through 999, with a team then rushing to the spot to bring the fire under control.
Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company General Manager Md Tajuddin Dhali TIMES of Bangladesh that, after the fire was extinguished, gas department workers were sent to repair the pipeline.
Preliminary investigations suggest the service line was damaged due to excavation operations being carried out in the area. The area has now returned to normal.
Karnapahuli Gas has urged caution during future excavation work near pipelines to prevent such incidents.
