At least 50 people were killed and over 200 people have sustained variety of injuries from air conditioner (A/C) explosions in the last three years.
According to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (SHNIBPS)."around 200 people have sustained burn injuries in the last three years and about 50 of them died. For burn injury patients, their survival depends on the percentage of burns they sustain in their trachea, doctors said.
Gopal Mallik, who suffered severe burn injuries as an air conditioner (AC) exploded in city's Gulshan-2 area on Saturday, died at the midnight on Sunday.
Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) police outpost Officer-in-Charge Md Bacchu Mia confirmed the matter saying, "The victim was undergoing treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of SHNIBPS."
"Two persons were bought here on Saturday with severe burn injuries. Among them, Gopal Mallik sustained cent percent burn and is in critical condition," Dr SM Aiyub Hossain, a Resident Medical Officer (RMO) of SHNIBPS, confirmed.
Md Mizan, 20, and Gopal Mallik, 29, suffered severe burn injuries as an air conditioner (AC) exploded at the fourth floor of a six-storey building in Niketan Society area under Gulshan-2 in the capital around 6:25am on Saturday.
Two persons were killed in an air conditioner explosion at a readymade garment factory in Gazipur Sadar upazila on July 24 in 2022.
The deceased were identified as Sagor, 22, a technician of Cassiopea Fashion Ltd and Sohel, a technician of the AC company, reports our Gazipur correspondent quoting SM Azizul Haque, Assistant Superintendent of Gazipur Industrial Police.
More than 50 Muslim worshippers sustained burn injuries when six air conditioners at a mosque in Narayanganj's Fatullah exploded on September 4 in 2020, The AC blasts incident at the Narayanganj mosque left 32 people dead.
They also said most patients sustaining burn injuries from air conditioner explosions remain in a critical condition as their trachea gets burnt in most cases, due to being in a closed room.
According to SHNIBPS doctors burn victims from air conditioner explosions are on the rise in the last three years.
"Awareness of air conditioner explosions is limited among people. Shops with air conditioners have to be brought under close monitoring and need higher surveillance," according to sources.
Proprietor of Air conditioners Engineering workshop at Mohammadpur, Mannu Hossan, said air conditioners need servicing and maintenance at least twice a year to detect problems and keep people safe from any accident.
"The air conditioner will explode if there is any gas related problem inside, a short circuit, or if there is a fire at a house when the A/C is running. In many cases, compressors get jammed which may cause a gas leak leading to an explosion," he added. He also advised people not to run A/Cs for over eight hours straight at a time.
