A man was killed and his cousin suffered severe burn injuries after a gas cylinder exploded at a residential building in the capital’s Bangshal area early Friday.
The deceased was identified as Delowar Hossain, 35, a native of Sharsha Upazila in Jessore. He lived in a rented flat on the third floor of a four-storey building opposite Churiwala Panchayat Cemetery in Mukim Bazar.
His cousin Nazmul Hossain, 33, who was injured in the incident, is undergoing treatment at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
According to witnesses and people close to the victims, the explosion occurred around 4:30am.
Tushar Islam Rifat, an employee of Delowar’s motorcycle garage, Bike Park Center, said the fire originated from a ground-floor warehouse where Delowar kept business supplies.
“The building owner’s cooking gas cylinder was kept in that godown. The explosion of the cylinder triggered the fire,” he said.
Sources said Delowar and Nazmul, who also worked at the garage, heard the sound of an initial blast and rushed down from the third floor to check what had happened.
While they were on the ground floor, a second explosion occurred, leaving both men trapped inside the flames.
Local residents managed to rescue Nazmul from the burning building, but Delowar remained trapped. Firefighters later recovered his body after bringing the blaze under control.
Inspector Md Faruk, in-charge of the DMCH Police Camp, confirmed the death and said the body had been sent to the morgue for a post-mortem examination.
Bangshal Police are investigating the cause of the explosion.
