Seven people from two families, including three children, suffered burns in a fire believed to have originated from a gas pipe leak at a tin-shed house in Mirpur early yesterday.

The injured are Abdul Khalil, 40, his wife Ruma Akter, 32, their sons Hafiz Abdullah, 13, Mohammad, 10, and Ismail, 4, as well as neighbours Mohammad Shahjahan, 25, and his wife Swapna Akter Parvin, 22, both garment workers.

The injured were admitted to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.

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Khalil's niece Nasima Akter Rupali said the family from Munshiganj's Sadar upazila lives at the rented house on road 16 of Mirpur-11. Shahjahan and Swapna live next door.

Injured Shahjahan recounted that they were asleep when an explosion occurred around 4:00am. Waking to the sound of the blast, they found themselves surrounded by flames and fled outside, their bodies on fire.

Shahjahan said they did not have gas cylinders in their kitchen, but a gas pipeline in front of the house had reportedly caught fire two days earlier. Locals had extinguished the flames at that time.

He suspects a leak in the pipeline allowed gas to accumulate in the house, leading to the explosion.

Dr Shaon Bin Rahman, a resident physician at the burn institute, said Khalil suffered 95 percent burns, Abdullah 38 percent, Mohammad 35 percent, Ruma and Ismail 20 percent each, while Swapna sustained 14 percent burns, and Shahjahan 6 percent.