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Nilphamari, April 29, 2025 – A machine explosion at Sonic Bangladesh Limited, a toy manufacturing factory located in Uttara Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in Nilphamari, injured five workers on Tuesday, April 29, at around 11:15 AM. The injured workers, identified as Liton Chandra Roy, Gajendra Nath Roy, Delowar Hossain, Nazim Uddin, and Mini Akter, were rushed to the Burn Unit of Rangpur Medical College Hospital for treatment.
According to workers at the EPZ, this is not the first such incident at the factory. A similar explosion occurred just days ago, resulting in the deaths of two workers who succumbed to their injuries. Workers have attributed these incidents to inadequate fire safety measures at the facility. Following the latest explosion, relatives of the injured workers and local residents blocked the Nilphamari-Saidpur road in front of the EPZ, protesting the negligence of the factory management and demanding accountability.
Security personnel at the EPZ reportedly restricted journalists from entering the area to cover the incident. Repeated attempts to contact Abdul Jabbar, General Manager of Uttara EPZ, for comments were unsuccessful.
Khursheed Alam, Senior Station Officer at Uttara EPZ Fire Service and Civil Defence Station, confirmed to Dhaka Post that five workers were injured in the explosion and were promptly rescued and sent to the hospital.
This incident follows a similar tragedy on April 6, when a dryer machine explosion at the same factory left two workers severely burned. Both workers passed away after a week of treatment. Sonic Bangladesh Limited, a subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based group, has been operating in Uttara EPZ since 2013, manufacturing toys and dolls.
AI/MR
