Dhaka | At least twelve people have been killed and dozens more suffered severe burns in an explosion, possibly due to a gas leak, at a mosque in Bangladesh, police said on Saturday.
Worshipers were taking part in evening prayers on Friday when the explosion caused a fireball in the mosque, according to emergency services.
Investigators suspect that a spark caused by an air conditioner after a power failure caused a gas leak.
“There was a gas leak in the mosque,” Abdallah Al-Arefin, the fire chief of Narayanganj, the area where the tragedy occurred, told AFP.
“When they closed the windows and doors and turned on the air conditioners, there was an electric spark that caused the explosion inside the mosque,” he added.
The 12 killed are among 37 people in critical condition who were admitted to a hospital specializing in burns in Dhaka, according to Samanta Lal Sen, spokesperson for the establishment.
He added that all were suffering from burns between 70 and 80 degrees.
Police say at least 45 people were injured in the blast.
Fires are common in Bangladesh, due to poor enforcement of safety regulations, and claim hundreds of lives each year.
In February 2019, 78 people were killed and dozens injured in the fire at a historic building from the time of the Mughal Empire in a former district of Dhaka.
In November 2012, at least 111 people were killed in a fire in a clothing factory intended for sale in Western countries, one of the worst such disasters in the country.