Deadly AC blasts in Dhaka raise many questions

By Gautam lahiri

New Delhi: A serial ‘airconditioner blast’ in Narayangunj near  capital city Dhaka that led to the death of 26 people and left more than 100 injured, has baffled the security agencies of Bangladesh .

The incident happened during the Esha prayer on Friday evening when more than 100 people were inside the mosque for prayers. Initial inquiry indicates that the blasts took place due to a leak in a gas pipe line that runs beneath the mosque.The leaking pipeline might have caused the gas to accumulate inside the mosque and a spark probably led to the explosion.

Just after the news came, Indian intelligence agencies started gathering some clues about the incident. Till now no foul play has been revealed officially. Prime Minister Hasina has orderd a high level probe into the incident. She has announced in Parliament that Cabinet secreatary has been asked to find out the cause of blast.

Later, inquiry conducted by the Fire service and civil defence found that none of the six airconditioners installed at the mosque exploded. Only the upper portion of the AC melted due to fire. The people died were found totally burnt which raised a lot of questions about the fire incident. There were a few cases of AC blast in Bangladesh but never did such a huge casualty take place.

While speaking in Parliament, Ms Hasina said that it was necessary to look into whether mosques were built according to their designs and permissions from the concerned authority so that this type of incident does not recur.She akso mentioned that many were being built without proper permission and the job of airconditioners are not of high quality. In fact in Bangladesh, Chinese airconditioners are abundantly sold at abnormally low prices. But the maintainenace of these machines is not proper. Chinese companies are now pleading with the Government to allow their mechanic in Dhaka to repair or maintain those ACs. Generally Bangladeshi electricians do the job of mainteneance.

Investigating agencies are also finding it diffucult to inestigate properly as the eye witness of the incident are all being treated for severe burn injury. They could not talk to the people. At the moment investigations are being conducted on the line of negligience on the apsrt of gas supply agencies.and already 8 employees of the leading gas agencies have been suspended . The incident caught attention of the international media as Newyork Times and Al Jazira news have widely covered the incident as a suspicious blast incident.

—-India News Stream