5 burnt in Narayanganj steel mill gas blast

Five workers were burnt in a blast at a steel mill in the Siddhirganj area under the Sadar upazila of Narayanganj on Saturday.

The incident occurred at the Sharmin Steel Ltd in the Godenail area of the upazila around 4:30am, officer-in-charge (OC) of Siddhirganj Police Station Golam Mostofa confirmed.

The victims were identified as Saiful Islam, 30, Iqbal Hossain, 25, Mozammel Haque, 30, Md Zakaria, 20, and Shariful Islam, 32. They are now under treatment at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in the capital.

One of the injured, Mozammel is in critical condition, according to a physician.

Besides, Saiful suffered burns to 60 per cent of his body, Shariful to 57 per cent, Zakaria to 35 per cent, and Iqbal to 30 per cent. The doctor said that their condition is critical.

Quoting factory authorities, the OC said, the incident happened due to excess pressure built up in the gas line.

 "The explosion seems like an accident but law enforcers will further investigate the matter to see if there was any negligence on the part of the factory authorities." the OC added.

/KN/