Bangladesh mosque explosion: Police said at least 45 people were injured in the explosion.
Dhaka:
An alleged gas explosion tore through a Bangladeshi mosque, killing at least 16 people, while dozens suffered life-threatening burns, police said Saturday.
Worshipers were in prayers on Friday night when the blast sent a fireball through the mosque in the central Narayanganj district, emergency services said.
Investigators suspected that a spark from an air conditioner, which ignited after a power outage, activated the gas.
“The leaked gas entered the mosque,” Narayanganj fire chief Abdullah Al Arefin told AFP.
“When they closed the windows and doors and turned on the air conditioners, there was a spark of electricity that caused the explosion inside the mosque.”
The 16 who died were among 37 taken to a specialized burn hospital in Dhaka, hospital spokesman Samanta Lal Sen said.
He added that the condition of the remaining 21 patients was “very critical” and all had suffered burns from 70 to 80 percent.
Police said at least 45 were injured in the blast and that people had spoken of smelling a gas leak.
In Bangladesh, safety regulations are often flouted. Hundreds of people die each year in fires in the nation of 168 million people.
In February last year, a hell in the old town of Dhaka killed 78 people. A month later, 25 people died when a fire engulfed a Dhaka office building.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
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