FT ONLINE

Five people have died after lightning struck a gas pipeline and started a blaze at a colony in Sylhet’s Gopalganj.

The incident occurred in the Club Bazar area of the Upazila’s Lakhanabanda Union around 3am on Sunday, said Gopalganj Police OC Fazlul Huq Shibly.

The dead have been identified as Shebu Begum, 25, Taslima Begum, 30, her son Tahmin, 2, Shebul Mia, 17 and Yahiya Uddin, 18.

The fire started on the gas service line riser during a thunderstorm, the police official said. It then spread to the houses in the colony.

Fire service workers from Sylhet came and brought the blaze under control, but five died before the fire was put out.

Taslima Begum’s husband Fazlu Mia, 40, was burned in the fire and taken to Sylhet’s Osmani Medical College Hospital for treatment.