At least 13 people were charred to death and 20 others injured in massive fire explosion sparked by head-on collision between a bus and a covered van, hauling gas cylinders, in southwest Bangladesh.
According to police, the accident took place last night on a highway connecting Dhaka and Khulna town in Faridpur district.
“Thirteen people have died so far in the accident, while nearly 20 people are being treated for injuries caused by the accident,” a police official said.
Media reports quoting witnesses said that a massive fire engulfed both the vehicles as the gas cylinders fell off the van following the collision with a bus and exploded. They said that most of the victims were burned to death beyond recognition.
“Most of them died almost instantly. Some of the wounded bus passengers were critically injured,” a police officer said, adding that the death toll may increase.
The van driver was among the dead.
Fire service and Civil Defence assistant director Momtaz Uddin said that the fire might have occurred by the explosion of gas cylinders.
Four fire fighting units from Faridpur were rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control, he added
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.