DHAKA, Sept 6 (NNN-BSS) – 20 worshippers, including a boy, died, after air conditioners of a mosque burst, Friday night, in Bangladesh’s central Narayanganj district, about 20 km from the capital, Dhaka.
The burst of the air conditioners is believed to have occurred due to a faulty gas line.
Samanta Lal Sen, coordinator of the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka, told journalists last night that, “20 people have so far died, after being admitted to the institute with major burns on their bodies.”
A total of 37 injured people were rushed to the institute on Friday night, after the explosion. Most of the victims suffered from 60 percent to 70 percent burns, and the condition of several other patients is still critical, said Sen.
Fire officials suspected a gas leak in the pipe line, leading to the accident, when the worshippers were about to leave after their Isha (night) prayers, at around 9:00 p.m. local time on Friday.
All the air-conditioners on the ground floor burst into flames, with around 100 worshippers still inside the three-storey mosque.
Shafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Fatullah Police Station in Narayanganj, said, huge blasts caused window glasses flying onto the street, and burnt ceiling fans, wires and electric switch boards.
Kamrul Ahsan, a control room official at the fire service headquarters in Dhaka, said, firemen managed to bring the flames under control, after hectic efforts around half an hour later.
The Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence formed a committee to investigate the incident.
Abdullah Al Arefin, assistant director of Narayanganj Fire Service and Civil Defence, told journalists that, a gas pipeline has gone through the bottom of the mosque.
“We’re investigating whether gas accumulated inside the mosque, from a leak in the pipeline and triggered the explosion and the subsequent fire, when all the mosque doors and windows were closed.– NNN-BSS
