A 25-year-old pregnant woman who suffered severe burn injuries in a gas leak explosion at a flat in Dhaka’s Uttara area early Friday died on Sunday.
The deceased, Sonia Akter, died around 10am while undergoing treatment at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
Dr Shawon Bin Rahman, resident surgeon at the institute, said Sonia had suffered 100 percent burns, including severe airway injuries.
Sonia’s husband Rubel, 30, their three-year-old daughter Roza, and seven other relatives remain hospitalised with burn injuries.
The explosion occurred around 3:30 am on Friday on the second floor of a residential building in Kamarpara under Sector 10 of Turag Thana.
Among the other victims are Rubel’s cousin Enayet, a Bangladeshi expatriate who had recently returned from Dubai, and his family members who were visiting from Shibchar upazila of Madaripur.
Enayet sustained 45 percent burns. Rubel and Ria suffered 32 percent burns, Roza 18 percent, Delera 14 percent, Junayed 24 percent, Habib 19 percent, Ayesha 12 percent and Abu Kalam Rubel 7 percent burns.
Sajed Matabbur, a relative of the victims, said residents of the building heard a loud explosion early Friday.
“After hearing the blast, we rushed out and saw that parts of the ground floor and first-floor walls had collapsed. All 10 people inside the flat suffered burn injuries,” he said.
The explosion is suspected to have been caused by accumulated gas, he added.