Gas Cylinder Blast Kills Couple in Gazipur, Injures Three Others as House Explodes, Burns, Collapses Overnight

Dhaka, Bangladesh— A gas cylinder exploded inside a home in Gazipur early Thursday, killing a married couple and injuring three other family members as the blast ripped through the building and triggered a fire.

The explosion occurred around 5:30 a.m. local time in a tin-shed house in Tongi area, on the outskirts of Dhaka, according to The Daily Star and local police. The couple, aged 35 and 28, was preparing morning tea in the kitchen when the cylinder, which had been leaking overnight, ignited. The blast blew out walls and collapsed the roof onto the sleeping family members inside.

Neighbors said they heard a deafening boom, then saw flames shooting from the house. Three others — the couple's two children and an elderly relative — were pulled from the rubble with severe burns and taken to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka. Doctors said two were in critical condition with over 60% burns.

"The smell of gas was strong since last night, but they thought it would go away," a neighbor told police. "The cylinder was old, the regulator was loose. We told them to change it."

Gas cylinder blasts have become a near-daily occurrence in Bangladesh, where cheap, unregulated cylinders, faulty regulators, and poor ventilation kill hundreds each year. In Gazipur's industrial belt, workers often use domestic cylinders inside crowded, poorly built housing with no safety checks. No agency conducts regular inspections.

Fire service officials said the cylinder in question was past its expiry date and had been refilled multiple times at an unauthorized shop. The valve was not certified. The blast ignited nearby cooking oil and plastic sheeting, which accelerated the fire. It took firefighters 40 minutes to bring it under control.

Police said they had detained the local cylinder supplier for questioning and sealed his shop. The Department of Explosives, which is supposed to license sellers, said it had not issued a license to that shop in two years. Enforcement remains thin.

In the neighborhood, similar houses stand row after row, each with a cylinder inside, often next to open stoves. Residents said they cannot afford piped gas and have no training in leak detection. A simple soapy water test could have prevented this, officials said, but few know how.

The bodies were handed to families after autopsy Thursday afternoon. The burned house was cordoned off, its walls blackened and roof caved.

The cylinder's twisted metal casing lay in the courtyard.