Eight people were killed and 66 others injured following a huge explosion in a building near Moghbazar Wireless Gate on Sunday evening.
The explosion occurred on the ground floor of a three-storey building around 7:00pm.
A 35-year-old man, Swapan, succumbed to his injuries around 11:00pm 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 of three people and injuries to 66.
According to deputy assistant director of Fire Service Headquarters Shajahan Shikder, the three people 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 College and Hospital,17 at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, five at Monowara Hospital, three at Ad-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 four-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 Center 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, told UNB.
The search-and-rescue operation is still on to be sure whether anyone else remained trapped in the building, said Debashish.
