Balloon gas cylinder blast kills five children in Bangladesh

At least five children were killed and 17 others injured when a balloon vendor's gas cylinder exploded in Dhaka on Wednesday. The vendor was inflating balloons using a gas cylinder placed on a van in a slum area near the capital's Rupnagar when the cylinder exploded, police said.

All the five children, aged between seven and 14, died on the spot when the cylinder exploded on a narrow street, police said. "The van was surrounded by a lot of people, some of them were buying balloons when the cylinder suddenly exploded. Most of the dead and wounded are residents of an adjacent slum," a senior police official said.

The injured have been admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH)and two of them are stated to be in critical condition.