8 killed in Moghbazar blast, Police disregard militant link

Dhaka building blast site. 7 killed 60 injured. Xinhua

Dhaka, June 28 - Eight people were killed and 66 others injured following a big blast in a building near Moghbazar Wireless Gate on Sunday evening.
The explosion occurred on the ground floor of a three-storey building around 7 pm.
A 35-year-old man, Swapan, succumbed to his injuries around 11pm at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, said Dr Partha Sankar Paul at the hospital.
With this, the death toll from the blast climbed to eight.
However, sources within the Fire Service and Civil Defence confirmed the deaths three people and injuries to 66.
Meanwhile, police disregarded the possibility of militant involvement behind the blast.
”Splinters would have been scattered at the scene if it were a bomb blast,"said DMP Comissioner Shafiqul Islam.
According to deputy assistant director of Fire Service Headquarters Shajahan Shikder, three of the deceased died at the  Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
He also said 39 of the injured are receiving  treatment at Dhaka Medical Dhaka Medical College and Hospital,17 at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery , five at Monowara Hospital, three  at Al Din Hospital and two at Holy Family Hospital.
“Overall, 66 victims of the Mogbazar blast are currently receiving treatment at different hospitals of the capital,” he added.
Meanwhile, Brig Gen Md Sazzad Hussain, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence, said they are suspecting gas leakage or similar reasons as the cause of the explosion.
He said a five-member probe body has been formed over the incident.
“The committee has been asked to submit a report within 7 working days,”  Md Sazzad added.
Of the earlier victims, two have been primarily identified.
One of them was a 29-year-old radio jockey, Mustafizur Rahman, who hailed from Mymensingh.
Another was a man called Abul Kashem, who was identified by family members who visited the police station.
After visiting the spot, DMP Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam earlier told reporters that seven people died in the incident and 50 others were admitted to different hospitals in the city with injuries.
Nine units of firefighters rushed to the spot, said deputy assistant director of Fire Service Headquarters Shajahan Shikder.
Witnesses said a portion of the building collapsed while glasses of three buses on the nearby road and the window-panes of adjacent Aarong building, Bishal Centre  and some other buildings got smashed following the huge blast.
“The explosion might have occurred in either Shawarma House or Bengal Meat’s showroom on the ground floor of the three-storey building…that’s our primary suspicion,” Debashish Bardhan, Deputy Director (Dhaka zone) at Fire Service and Civil Defence said. - UNB.