Four people were killed when an oil tank exploded at a rice bran processing plant in Bogura's Sherpur upazila today.

The oil tank exploded around 1:30pm today at the plant of Majumder Products Limited, causing four men doing repair work on top of the tank  to fall 40 feet to the ground. 

The victims are: Md Imran, 32, son of Md Khalil, Mohammad Sayeed, 38, son of Md Solaiman, Rubel Hosain, 31, and Md Monir, 28. All the deceased were from the Officers Colony in Syedpur, Nilphamari.

Rezaul Karim, officer-in-charge of Sherpur Police Station, told The Daily Star, "Four technicians were doing repair work on a tank of rice bran oil around 1:30pm. At that time, the tank exploded and four people fell to the ground. Locals took them to Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital (SZMCH), where the duty doctor declared them dead when they arrived.

It is assumed that it occurred when welding sparks entered the oil tank during repair work, said police.

The dead bodies were kept in the hospital morgue, said sub-inspector Lalon Hossain of the medical outpost.

When asked how they died, Abdul Wadud, deputy director of SZMCH, told The Daily Star, "Four bodies with burn marks were brought to the hospital. The cause of death will be known after an autopsy."

Ranjan Chakraborty, admin officer of the processing plant told the Daily Star, "Seven people were welding an oil pipe on top of a tank that is 40 feet high. The tanker exploded and four of them were thrown to the ground 40 feet below. When they were taken to the hospital, the doctor pronounced them dead.

When asked about safety measures, Ranjan said, "We did not tell them to work today. They were hired from Nilphamari 12 days ago."