7 dead, 50 hurt in Dhaka blast likely caused by gas pipeline
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Firefighters inspecting the scene where the suspected gas explosion in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka took place on Sunday. Police said at least two adjacent buildings were also partially damaged.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
DHAKA • At least seven people were killed and another 50 people were injured after a powerful explosion ripped apart a three-storey building in central Dhaka, Bangladeshi officials said, citing a gas pipeline as the likely cause.
Police said the explosion on Sunday was so forceful that it broke the windows of at least four moving buses, injuring dozens of passengers on board.
Dhaka police chief Shafiqur Rahman said at least seven people were killed in the explosion. Police and fire service officials said 50 people were injured.
"Fire service officers are at the scene. They will investigate the reason for the explosion. But primarily we believe methane gas accumulated and concentrated in the pipeline and then exploded in the ground floor," Dhaka Metropolitan Police Joint Commissioner Syed Nurul Islam said.
He ruled out foul play, saying the Bangladeshi capital has witnessed similar explosions in recent years.
Witnesses told local media the blast had reduced the building - which houses a restaurant, an electronics shop and several other stores - to rubble. Police said at least two adjacent buildings were also partially damaged.
"At least four of the injured are in critical condition," said Dr Samanta Lal Sen, a top doctor at the Sheikh Hasina Burn Hospital, where a dozen of the injured were taken for treatment. A police bomb disposal unit rushed to the spot.
"We are analysing the nature of the explosion as the ground floor of the building was destroyed," unit leader Rahmatullah Chowdhury told The Daily Star.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE