Four people were killed and 15 others injured as a gas cylinder in an ambulance exploded following a collision with a bus in Savar on Dhaka-Aricha highway early Thursday.
Savar Highway Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Sougatul Alam said the ambulance caught fire around 2am after being hit by a bus in front of Rajfulbaria Police Town and the blaze engulfed two buses.
“Four passengers of the ambulance died and he bodies could not be identified as those were fully burnt,” he said.
The injured were rescued and admitted to a hospital for treatment.
Police said the death toll may rise further.
The fire service officials said that the fire broke out due to the explosion of a gas cylinder in the ambulance.
Upon receiving the information, the Savar Fire Service rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control after an hour of effort.
Traffic on the Dhaka-Aricha highway remained suspended for several hours due to the accident.
The four bodies were recovered and sent to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in Dhaka for autopsy, the OC added.
TH