At least eight people suffered burn injuries after a gas cylinder exploded at the Royal Filling Station in Dhaka’s Mokhakhali on Wednesday. Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Anath Mitra along with locals took them to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery. The injured are Md Salauddin (38), Mohammad Mamun (30), Masum (25), Amir Hossain Sumon (32), Md Rana (30), Kamal Abedin (50), Jibon (21) and Engineer Khair Gazi (44). Employees at the BN Filling Station, next to the Royal Filling Station, also suffered burns, rescuers said. 4 injured in explosion in Dhaka’s Agargaon None of the injured are out of danger, said Dr Md Tariqul Islam, a resident physician at the burn institute. Kamrul Hasan, an employee of Royal Filling Station, said the work of the gas line was going on for three days at the filling station. “I came to know that there was a fire incident during testing today. A total of eight people, including four from our filling station, were burnt there.” Earlier, the fire broke out on Wednesday at 8:08 pm. 4 burnt in gas explosion at BFC's walk-in freezer Two firefighting units from Tejgaon Fire Station doused the fire at 8:45 pm on Wednesday, said Shahjahan Sikder, deputy assistant director of Fire Service and Civil Defence (media cell). 5 workers burnt in N’ganj re-rolling mill explosion

A faction of the Bangladesh Petrol Pump Owners Association (BPPOA) has threatened to go on a strike across the country if their 6-point demand, including raising commissions on the sales of petroleum by 7 percent, are not met soon. “We won’t receive any consignment of petroleum fuels from government depots from February 17 if our demands are not accepted,” said Syed Sazzadul Karim Kabul, president of a faction of the BPPOA, at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) on Wednesday. Secretary General of the BPPOA faction Mizanur Rahman Ratan and other leaders were present on the occasion. They said the Energy Division and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation have unilaterally raised the commissions on sales by Tk 0.20 per litre against their longstanding demand for raising Tk 1.60 per litre. READ: Fuel Price hike: Now petrol pump, tank-lorry owners demand rise in commissions, transportation fares According to them, this is unacceptable as their other expenditures have excessively gone up and the government has also raised the price of diesel by Tk 15 per litre.   Their other demands are cancellation of the existing provisions for taking licences from different government bodies except Department of Explosive and Trade License Issuing Bodies, issuing gazette notification on declaration of sales’ commission, cancellation of the existing provision for taking lease of lands used for entrance of petrol pumps from the Roads and Highways Department and building adequate restrooms for tank-lorry workers at fuel depots. READ: BIWTA evicts Haji Salim's illegal petrol pump, over 260 establishments Meanwhile, Mohammad Nazmul Haque, president of another faction of the BPPOA, in a statement denounced the demands and the press conference arranged by the Kabul-led faction. He called the leaders of other factions as expelled members of the organisation.

As if taking a clue from the public transports, the petrol pump and tank-lorry owners are now demanding that the government raises commissions on fuel sales and transportation fares following the recent hike in fuel prices. According to sources in the re-fuelling business, the leaders of the Bangladesh Petrol Pump and Tank-Lorry Owners Workers Unity Council, a representative body of the both operators and workers, held a meeting on November 14 to negotiate the demand with the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC). But the meeting ended inconclusively, the sources said. Read: Fuel prices hiked in line with global market: PM “But no concrete decision has come from the meeting as the BPC took time to hold an inter-ministerial meeting to take opinions from the other ministries concerned”, said Nazmul Haque, president of the unity council, also the president of Bangladesh Petrol Pump Owners Association (BPPOA) which also held separate meeting with the BPC on the same issue . He, however, informed that a 12- point demand of the unity council was placed to the BPC. The organisation has been urging the government for long to meet their demands. “But the latest phase of fuel price rise has pushed us into to an unbearable situation,” he told UNB. Read Reduce fuel prices to facilitate economic recovery: BGMEA Nazmul said they will go for action programme to realise their demands if the BPC fails to raise their commissions within a week or two. The government raised the prices of diesel and kerosene to Tk 80 per litre from Tk 65 with effect from November 4 this month.  

A petrol pump operator was set on fire early Tuesday allegedly by a fellow worker in Salauddin Filling Station at Shyampur of the city.

Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) on Monday fined two filling stations Tk 100,000 for weight and measurement manipulation in the capital.

A mobile court of Bangladesh Standards & Testing Institution on Monday fined a petrol pump Tk 20,000 for deceiving customers by selling them short in Mohakhali area in the city.