With the growing use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders in households, hotels, restaurants, and tea stalls across the country, incidents of cylinder explosions and accidents are also on the rise, often resulting in casualties.
Experts say these accidents are caused by the use of substandard equipment – such as low-quality regulators and hoses – unsafe refilling and sales practices, lack of monitoring, and negligence.
According to them, consumers are unable to detect warning signs before accidents occur, while even after such incidents, authorities fail to identify root causes and take corrective measures.
They further say although licensed companies refill their own cylinders, dishonest groups often resort to alternative methods, which are largely unmonitored and frequently lead to accidents.
Brig Gen (retd) Engineer Ali Ahmed Khan, former director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence, told TIMES of Bangladesh that the practice of issuing licences without proper monitoring is one of the main reasons accidents cannot be prevented.
“No one checks whether safety standards are being followed. Investigation committees are often formed after accidents, but their recommendations are routinely ignored,” he said.
He also noted that many refilling centres are operating without licences. “What’s even more shocking is that station owners test their own compliance – which is simply absurd,” he remarked.
Khan added that public unawareness is also a major factor behind these accidents.
According to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), while 50 companies hold licences, only 18 firms – including Beximco, Omera, Orion, Total, Bashundhara, Jamuna, Navana, JMI, and Sena – are actively marketing LPG. They supply cylinders across the country through dealer networks.
Cylinder sizes available in the market include 12kg, 30kg, 35kg, and 45kg units. Beximco also markets 20kg cylinders, but its 35kg cylinders are supplied only in Dhaka.
There are no accurate statistics on how many LPG cylinders are used daily in households across the country. Even though the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) keeps records, experts have raised questions about their reliability.
BPC Chairman Amin Ul Ahsan said that the use of substandard caps in cylinders causes leakages, leading to explosions and accidents – and the responsibility lies with the dealers. To prevent such incidents, private companies supplying LPG must strengthen their monitoring of dealers, he stressed.
He also noted that the BPC occasionally conducts mobile court drives to check cylinder quality.
Dealers Fill Cylinders with Water, Sand
Several dealers in Savar, Gazipur, and Narayanganj revealed that, for extra profit, some unscrupulous operators mix water and sand inside LPG cylinders along with gas. Such malpractice is a major cause of accidents.
Amirul Haque, president of the LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh, said that a large number of illegal refilling stations are active across the country. While the Department of Explosives carries out regular drives – shutting down around 20 illegal LPG filling stations in the past month alone – many outlets continue to refill cylinders manually instead of using the required automated filling machines.
“Most explosions and accidents occur due to violations of refilling standards. Many stations operate under auto-filling licences but actually conduct manual refills,” he explained, blaming the lack of effective police crackdowns.
He also acknowledged that in many cases, cylinders are indeed filled with sand and water.
According to him, with LPG consumers spread from cities to rural alleys, illegal refilling continues unchecked in the absence of strong law enforcement and monitoring – making accidents unavoidable.
Most accidents in low-income areas
Most gas cylinder explosions occur in low-income neighbourhoods, particularly in industrial areas where workers reside.
According to the National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute, four people were injured in an explosion caused by a gas leak in a two-storey house in the Zira Pukurpar area of Ashulia at 6 am on 12 July. The victims included Mizanur Rahman, 30, and his wife Sabina Begum, 25.
Sabina’s brother, Sohel Rana, told Times of Bangladesh that several families lived in rented rooms on the ground floor of the house. Most members of these families worked at local garment factories and used gas cylinders for cooking.
“There were three gas cylinders in the kitchen, one of which was leaking gas from its riser. Upon noticing this, Mizanur tried to turn off the riser and advised everyone not to cook for the time being,” he said.
However, at around 6am, one of the tenants, Zaynab, struck a match to cook, causing the explosion.
In many cases, the connecting pipes remain attached to the cylinders during cooking. Heat from open flames can melt the pipes, causing leaks and raising the risk of explosions.
On the night of 11 July, at around 1:30am, a similar explosion occurred in a house in the Sutrapur Kagojitola area of the capital, leaving a father, mother, and their three children severely burned. One of the injured, Ripon, 40, a van driver, was among the victims.
Ripon’s uncle, Zakir Hossain, said the family lived on the ground floor of a five-storey building next to Saeed Chairman’s house. They were all asleep when the explosion occurred. Zakir believes the blast was caused by a gas leak.
On the evening of 2 July, in the Bhatara Purba Nurchala Bazar area, another explosion occurred in a tin-shed house next to a school, severely burning a father and son. The victims were Halim Sheikh, 50, and his son Hanif Sheikh, 24.
Halim’s wife, Shiuli Begum, mentioned that she had started cooking on the stove and was working in the next room when the cylinder exploded unexpectedly. Halim and his son were in the kitchen at the time of the blast.
Farid Uddin Ahmed, deputy chief inspector at the Department of Explosives, said, “Current regulations allow up to 10 cylinders to be stored in shops, and this provision is being exploited to sell cylinders indiscriminately.”
He added that amendments to the regulations are underway.
He further said that with only one officer and five staff members in each divisional office – and no dedicated vehicles – it is extremely difficult to carry out inspections and ensure proper monitoring.