At least five people were burnt when an oil cylinder exploded at a metal casting factory in the capital's Shyampur area yesterday afternoon.

Injured Anamul, 40, Mujibur, 40, Mizan, 28, Rubel, 14, were workers of Halim Moulding Workshop while Billal, 30, was a client, said Kazi Wazed Ali, officer-in-charge (OC) of Kadamtoli Police Station.

He said the tin-built factory “blew up in the explosion leaving a wreckage of demolished walls and other equipment.”

Anamul, Mizan and Billal were in critical condition with 45, 60, and 50 of their bodies burnt, said Partha Shankar Paul, resident surgeon at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery at Dhaka Medical College Hospital where all the injured were taken.

A hydraulic oil cylinder of the factory exploded due to excessive heat around 4:00pm, said Palash Chandra Modok, duty officer of the Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters.

The OC claimed that the owner of the factory was on the run.