Gas cylinder blast kills 1, hurts 20

A woman was killed and 20 other people were injured as a gas cylinder exploded at Salimabad Darbar Sharif in Barguna's Amtali upazila yesterday.

The dead, Nurunnahar Begum, 60, was the wife of Sona Mia of Dalachora village.

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Quoting locals, police said a three-day 69th annual Urs (religious gathering) began at Salimabad Darbar Sharif on Thursday.

Marking the religious programme, a fair was organised on the Darbar premises and several hundreds of people, including children and women, came to visit it yesterday.

A crowd gathered in front of a gas cylinder to fill their balloons with gas. Around 5:00pm, the cylinder blasted with a bang, killing Nurunnahar on the spot and wounding several others.

Locals took the injured to Amtali Upazila Health Complex first. Later, four of them were shifted to Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in a critical condition, while three others to Patuakhali General Hospital.

Police were investigating to find the reasons behind the blast, said Pulok Chandra Roy, officer-in-charge of Amtali Police Station.