Gas explosion kills man

A man died while his wife and son, and five guests sustained burn injuries in a gas explosion at their kitchen in the capital's Jatrabari area yesterday morning.
Stock investor Omar Faruk, 38, had sustained 90 percent burn injuries and died at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 3:00pm. His wife Nazma Begum, 25, suffered 50 percent burn injuries and is now in a critical condition.
The other injured are the couple's son Nihan, 3, Faruk's sisters Parul Akhter, 31, and Taslima Akhter, 23, Parul's son Arman, 4, Taslima's son Tanvir, 3, and her daughter Sushmita, 4.
The injured were admitted to the DMCH burn unit.
Deceased's cousin Helal Uddin said the guests had come to the capital to attend the wedding ceremony of one of his cousin sisters. The guests were staying at the two-room house of the family and were supposed to leave for Comilla along with the family today.
“The accident happened when Faruk had lit a match in the kitchen early in the morning. Suddenly there was a big explosion and fire engulfed both the bedrooms. The children and the guests were asleep then,” said Helal.
Jatrabari police suspect that the gas cylinder was leaking and the kitchen had turned into a gas chamber as its windows were kept shut. The windowpanes and plastic doors of the kitchen and bathroom were found broken, perhaps due to the impact of the explosion, said police, adding that the fire had damaged most of the belongings of the family.