Cylinder blast rips apart car

Two people were hurt when the gas cylinder of a car exploded at a CNG filling station at Khulshi in Chittagong yesterday.

The injured are Ismail Hossain Yousuf, 30, an employee of the station, and Bokthear Uddin, 25, the driver of another car. They were being treated at a nearby hospital with minor injuries.

Witness Rajesh Das told The Daily Star that the accident happened around 1:45pm when the car was refueling.

“There was a loud bang and smoke engulfed the entire area. Then I saw the car which had completely been destroyed,” said Rajesh who was waiting for his turn  to refuel.

He said the faces and shoulders of the two victims were hit by flying debris from the blast. The explosion also caused some damage to his car.

Abu Sufian, another employee at the filling station, said there were broken pieces of glass and car parts everywhere at the station after the accident.

Asked, he said the car did not catch fire. There was no one in it either.

While visiting the spot, this correspondent saw holes on the boundary walls of the CNG station and a nearby building. Locals said debris from the blast ripped through them.

Mohammad Hasan, manager of the station owned by GEP Holdings Limited on Zakir Hossain Road, said the accident could have been deadly. “Luckily, it wasn't.”

He said the accident happened probably because “there was something wrong with the car cylinder.”

Abdul Malek, deputy assistant director of Agrabad Fire Service and Civil Defence, said it seemed the cylinder was unfit.

Sub-inspector Alamgir Hossain of Khulshi Police Station said the explosion happened when the car was taking fuel in, and the driver was missing.

He said some witnesses told them that the incident left three people injured. However, police found that only two people were hurt.

Contacted, Shamsul Alam, chief inspector of the Department of Explosives, told The Daily Star last night that they were investigating to find out the exact reason behind the explosion.

He, however, said many CNG-run vehicles run the risk of such blasts as they use cylinders beyond their expiry dates.