Five members of a family, including three children, suffered burn injuries in a gas explosion at a flat in Narayanganj’s Fatullah this morning.

The incident occurred at a ground-floor apartment of an eight-storey building in Uttar Bhuigar Giridhara area around dawn, according to the Fire Service.

The injured are Md Kalam, 45; his wife Sayma, 40; and their three children, Munna, 12; Munni, 10; and Kotha, 7. They are the tenant of the apartment.

The injured were taken to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka, where all of them are in critical condition, said residential surgeon Shawon Bin Rahman.

Shawon said Kalam suffered 95 percent burns, while Sayma suffered 60 percent burns. Munna has 30 percent burns, Munni 35 percent, and Kotha 52 percent.

Abdullah Al Arifin, deputy assistant director of Narayanganj Fire Service and Civil Defence, said initial findings suggest that a leak from a pipeline in the kitchen caused gas to accumulate inside the closed flat.

“The explosion likely occurred when a lighter was ignited,” he said.

Quoting the injured, a neighbour named Rakib, who helped take them to the hospital, said the blast took place when Kalam went to the kitchen early in the morning and attempted to light the stove.

“The explosion was loud, and flames spread instantly across the room,” he added.

The health minister is expected to visit the victims at the burn institute, Shawon said.