Explosion at Patuakhali rice mill; 1 died, 4 injured

A worker died and four were injured in an explosion at an rice mill in Baufal upazila of Patuakhali last night.

The deceased was identified as Rasel Khan, 37, an assistant director of the ice mill.

The incident happened at 11:30 pm at Khan Barfkal in the Kalaiya Launchghat area, according to Officer-in-Charge of Baufal Police Station, ATM Arichul Haque.

The injured workers- Premananda Das, 55, Krishna Rani, 40, Ibrahim, 29, Afzal, 50 -- were first taken to Baufal Upazila Health Complex from where they were shifted to Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital for better treatment.

The workers said that they repaired an ice-making machine after a technical fault was identified. There was a loud explosion as soon as they turned on the machine after the repair.

According to the workers, when the gas spread across the machine room,  all of the workers managed to come out of the room except Rasel. 

According to reports, firefighters rushed to the scene, but their rescue effort was delayed due to the severity of the gas.

About half an hour later, firefighters rescued all of them from the factory and brought them to the upazila health complex, where Rasel was declared dead.

Arifuzzaman, a Baufal fire station officer, said, "Initially, it is believed that the explosion occurred due to a leak in the supply line of the gas cylinder."

OC of Baufal Police Station, Arichul Haque said no complaints were received following the accident, and that legal action would be taken if any complaint was filed.