The death toll from the gas cylinder explosion in Ashulia, on the outskirts of Dhaka, has risen to eight after another victim died while receiving treatment, The Daily Star reported.

Ashulia sits inside Bangladesh's largest knitwear and woven garment cluster, supplying major apparel buyers across Europe and North America. The incident adds to the industrial safety record that brands, audit firms and compliance teams track when assessing Bangladeshi supplier facilities.

What do we know so far?

Confirmed facts remain limited. The blast involved a gas cylinder at a facility in the Ashulia industrial belt. Eight people have now died, including the latest victim who succumbed to injuries sustained in the explosion.

Details still outstanding include:

• The exact facility and its ownership
• Whether the site operates as a garment factory, a textile processing unit or a non-apparel industrial premises
• The number of injured workers still under treatment
• The cause of the cylinder failure
• Any regulatory action taken by Bangladeshi authorities

Until those details are confirmed, buyers with suppliers in the Ashulia–Savar corridor should treat this as an active incident rather than a closed case.

Why does this matter for sourcing teams?

Gas cylinder safety falls under the same industrial-hygiene category that compliance programmes cover through fire, electrical and building-structural assessments. Bangladesh's ready-made garment sector rebuilt its safety architecture after the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, with the Accord on Fire and Building Safety — now operating as the Ready-Made Garment Sustainability Council (RSC) following its 2020 transition to national oversight — driving factory inspections.

Incidents involving boilers, compressors and pressurised gas systems historically sat outside the scope of the initial Accord inspections, which concentrated on fire, electrical and structural risks. That gap means buyers cannot assume their audit coverage extends to pressure-vessel safety at every tier of their Bangladeshi supply base.

What decision does this force?

Sourcing and compliance leaders with production in the Ashulia corridor face three immediate actions. First, confirm whether any contracted or subcontracted facility is connected to the blast. Second, check whether current audit protocols for Bangladeshi suppliers include gas cylinder storage, handling and certification. Third, review whether the incident triggers buyer-specific incident-reporting requirements under supplier codes of conduct.

The story will be updated as facility details and casualty figures are confirmed.