At least 10 people have been injured in an explosion and subsequent fire at an LPG station in the coastal town of Cox’s Bazar, following a gas leak that went uncontained for several hours.

The blast occurred around 10 pm on Wednesday at the ‘N Alam’ station in the Kolatoli neighbourhood. Gas was leaking since approximately 7 pm, according to local residents. The leaking gas had spread across a roughly one-kilometre area, sparking panic before it ignited.

Those injured include station employees and local residents. They have been admitted to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital and Chattogram Medical College Hospital. Doctors described the condition of one patient as critical.

Witnesses reported that the area, home to an estimated 20,000 people in the adjacent Adarshagram, Chandrima Housing and jail quarters, was engulfed in leaked gas for nearly three hours. Residents fled in all directions after the explosion. Several houses in Adarshagram were reportedly burnt due to the intensity of the blaze at the gas station, and thick smoke caused breathing difficulties across the neighbourhood.

Fire service units were deployed to contain the blaze and stop the leak, said Syed Muhammad Morshed Hossain, assistant director of Fire Service and Civil Defence in Cox’s Bazar. “The leaked LPG subsequently posed a risk of a major explosion,” he told reporters late Wednesday.

Police cordoned off the area to keep onlookers at a safe distance, said Cox’s Bazar Sadar Model police station officer-in-charge Chhomi Uddin. Authorities temporarily halted traffic on the Kolatoli road, a key entrance to the city, causing disruption for travellers heading to Dhaka and Chattogram.