A truck carrying gas cylinders overturned on a pothole-strewn stretch of the Comilla-Sylhet highway in Brahmanbaria early Wednesday morning, triggering a series of deafening explosions as cylinders ignited one after another.
Miraculously, no casualties were reported, but the incident exposed the perilous state of the region’s roads and sparked widespread panic.
The accident occurred around 4:30 AM near the Bangladesh Gas Field Company’s head office in Birasa, a suburb plagued by ongoing construction on the Ashuganj-Akhaura four-lane highway.
Years of delays have left the road riddled with massive potholes, turning it into a hazard for vehicles, especially in the Birasa area.
The truck, en route to Cumilla, hit a deep pothole, flipped, and caught fire, setting off a chain reaction of exploding gas cylinders.
The blasts shattered windows in nearby buildings and sent shockwaves of fear through the community.
Two fire service units from Brahmanbaria and Sarail battled the blaze for two hours, bringing it under control by 6:30am.
The incident caused a massive traffic jam on both sides of the highway, with Sadar Model Police Station officers stepping in to manage the chaos. “The truck overturned in a ditch and caught fire,” said Newton Das, Deputy Director of the Brahmanbaria Fire Service. “Our units worked swiftly to extinguish the flames.”
Mozaffar Hossain, Officer-in-Charge of Brahmanbaria Sadar Model Police Station, added, “The explosions caused widespread panic, but thankfully, no one was injured.”
This incident underscores a broader environmental and safety concern: poorly maintained infrastructure exacerbates risks, from road accidents to potential environmental damage from chemical spills.