Three people were killed and nine others injured when the gas cylinder of a microbus exploded, causing the vehicle to crash and catch fire in Bogura’s Sherpur upazila on Wednesday morning.

The blast occurred at about 7:45 am in Bhabanipur union as the Dhaka-bound vehicle was travelling towards Rangpur, according to the fire service and local police.

The explosion, which witnesses described as deafening, caused the driver to lose control. The microbus then crashed violently into a road island and was engulfed in flames.

Those killed were identified as the driver, Rintu (47), and two passengers, Shiuli Begum (48) and Tayeba Khatun (35). All were heading home for the Eid-ul-Fitr holiday, local officials said.

The injured were rushed to Sherpur Upazila Health Complex. Four of them, in serious condition, were later transferred to Bogura’s Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment.

One person died at the scene. A second died at the upazila health complex and a third succumbed to injuries after being moved to the medical college hospital, police said.

“We found one person dead at the scene and rescued four injured, who were in a very serious condition,” said Md Bakhtiar Hossain, station officer at Sherpur Fire Service and Civil Defence.

Traffic on the highway was disrupted for a short period following the accident. Police later cleared the area and recovered the wrecked vehicle, said Rokon Uddin, in charge of the Sherpur Highway Police Camp.