Pregnant woman burnt in Gazipur gas fire dies, taking toll to 2

A pregnant woman, who was severely burnt in a kitchen fire sparked by a gas cylinder blast in Gazipur, has succumbed to her injuries. This brings the death toll from Sunday night's incident to two.

The victim, identified by a single name as Taslima, died during treatment at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka around 6am on Tuesday, according to Dr Shawon Bin Rahman, the resident surgeon at the facility's emergency department.

The 30-year-old had suffered burns across 95 percent of her body, said Shawon.

Earlier, on Monday, another 30-year-old woman, identified by a single name as Seema, died after suffering burns on 90 percent of her body.

The fire broke out on Sunday in the kitchen of a rented house in the Mogorkhal area under Gazipur’s Basan Police Station after a gas cylinder leak. Five people, including two children, suffered serious burn wounds.

All of them were subsequently rushed to the national burn institute in Dhaka.

Among them, 35-year-old Parvin, her 1-year-old son Ayaan, and 10-year-old Tanzila are still undergoing treatment.

Dr Shawon said Parvin suffered burns on 32 percent of her body, Tanzila 90 percent, and Ayaan 28 percent.

"The severity of their burns is also very high. Their condition is critical."

Parvin’s husband Majharul Islam said that they live in the house as tenants. He was not home at the time of the incident but rushed back after hearing the news. The other victims are also tenants of the same house.

"From what I have gathered, gas had accumulated inside the house from a leaking cylinder. When they tried to light the stove, there was a loud explosion and a fire broke out. Later, others in the house managed to douse the flames with water," Majharul said.