At least three people were killed when a bus collided with a parked rickshaw-van, which then crashed into the kitchen of a roadside eatery, causing a gas cylinder explosion in Dhaka's Keraniganj last evening.

The incident occurred around 7:30pm in the Ramerkanda area of Keraniganj, confirmed Sohrab Al Hossain, officer-in-charge of Keraniganj Model Police Station, to The Daily Star.

All three victims were inside the eatery at the time of the explosion. They died when the rickshaw-van hit a gas cylinder, leading to an explosion, he added.

The identities of the deceased have not yet been confirmed.

Shahjahan Miah, duty officer at Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters, said firefighters recovered three bodies from the scene.

Two firefighting units extinguished the blaze around 8:50pm.