Tongi cylinder blast: Daughter Tanisha dies after her parents, wiping out a family of three

Tanisha, aged 16, has died after her parents in the explosion caused by a leaking cooking gas cylinder pipe in Tongi, Gazipur. She died while undergoing treatment at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka at around 9:30am on Friday (23 October). With her death, all three members of the same family have now lost their lives in the accident.

Tanisha's death was confirmed by her uncle, Md Jihad Ali. He said his brother-in-law Lal Chan Mia (60) and his sister Nasima (50) had died while undergoing treatment on Wednesday night at around 8pm. Two days later, on Friday morning, their daughter also passed away.

The family lived in a rented home belonging to Fakhrul Hasan, next to Master Bari in the Mudafa area of Ward No. 52 under Tongi West Police Station. According to information given by relatives, at around 7am on Wednesday (21 October), gas leaked from the pipe of the cooking cylinder in the home and accumulated inside the room.

At one point an explosion occurred and the fire spread, leaving Lal Chan Mia, his wife Nasima and their daughter Tanisha severely burned. Neighbours later rescued them and admitted them to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka. It was there, one after another, that all three died while undergoing treatment.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Tongi West Police Station, Md Arifur Rahman, confirmed the deaths, saying Tanisha had died while undergoing treatment and her parents had died before her. The process of handing over the body to the family after completing legal formalities is under way.

Tanisha's uncle Jihad Ali said preparations are being made to take her body to their village home after the legal process is completed. The death of the teenage girl, following her parents, has cast a shadow of grief over the family and relatives.

The incident has once again raised questions about the safety of using gas cylinders in homes. Gas accumulating in a room from a pipe leak and then exploding — accidents of this kind happen frequently in Bangladesh, and almost every time they cost lives. The Tongi incident is a tragic example of how a tiny leak can destroy an entire family.

The sequence of the accident was this: at around 7 in the morning, as cooking preparations began, gas was likely already spreading from the leak. When the accumulated gas in the closed room reached a dangerous level, the explosion occurred and fire engulfed all three within moments. Although they were taken to hospital with severe burns, none of them could be saved.

Lal Chan Mia and Nasima died first, on Wednesday night itself. Their 16-year-old daughter Tanisha then fought for her life for two days before succumbing on Friday morning. The successive deaths of three members of one family have created an atmosphere of mourning across the area.

Police said the legal process for handing over the body is being completed. No detailed information has yet been provided by police regarding a fuller investigation into the incident.

In the end, a leak in the kitchen of a rented home took an entire family. Experts have long said that simple precautions — regularly checking cylinder pipes and regulators, not lighting a flame and instead opening doors and windows if a leak is smelled, and closing the cylinder valve when in doubt — can prevent such disasters. This heartbreaking incident in Tongi has once again pointed unmistakably to the need for that caution.