Three killed in Noakhali gas cylinder blast

Three people were killed and two others burnt in a fire caused by a gas cylinder explosion in Hatia upazila of Noakhali on Monday night.

At least 16 shops were gutted in the devastating fire followed by the explosion, said Jashim Uddin Majumder, assistant director of Noakhali district fire service.

The dead are Mahibul Islam Nipu, 40, of Begumganj upazila, Khaled Hasan, 45, and Rahmat Ullah, 35, of Hatia upazila.

The explosion took place at an oil shop owned by Mahibul at Chairmanghat Bazar when someone was cooking for seven employees of the shop on Monday night, said the official.

The gas cylinder went off with a big bang around 10:00pm, according to locals.

On information, three firefighting units rushed there and rescued Khaled from the shop, who was burnt severely, Fire service official Jashim said.

Two hours after their hectic effort, they managed to extinguish the blaze and found two dead bodies of Mahibul and Rahmat.

Khaled was first admitted to Noakhali General Hospital from where he was taken to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, said Hatia Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Abul Khair.

He died at the DMCH around 6:30am yesterday, the OC added.

The two other injured took primary treatment, locals said.

Local administration and fire service formed two committees to investigate the incident.