Fun event turns fatal

The annual sports day celebration at Dhaka Shiksha Board Laboratory School and College turned tragic as a gas cylinder explosion on the campus premises left a balloon vendor dead and two students injured yesterday.

The dead is Siddique, 60, and the two injured students are 10th grader Oishi and ninth grader Jannatul Jabin.

According to witnesses, the incident happened when Siddique was pumping helium into balloons on a van.

The body was taken to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital for autopsy, said Selimuzzaman, officer-in-charge of Darus Salam Police Station.

The injured students received primary treatment at Mirpur's Delta Hospital, said Mohammad Fazar Ali, principal of the school.

An injured student is taken to a hospital in Mirpur. Photo: Prabir Das

Terming the incident unfortunate, the school's principal said the programme was called off after the incident.

Visiting the spot, The Daily Star correspondent saw a van completely damaged.

A sixth grader of the school, Abdullah, said the cylinder explosion was so loud that some students fainted.

Siddique's wife Monowara Begum, who was present on the campus premises when the incident happened, said that her husband had been selling balloons in Mirpur area for last six to seven years.

The incident created panic among the guardians as well as students, said Lipi Begum, a guardian.