A mother from Cardiff has become the fourth member of her family to die after a gas poisoning in Bangladesh. Hosne Ara Islam, 46, died at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University hospital, also known as PG hospital, on October 18.
She was found unconscious after an incident at a flat in the region of Sylhet in the north east of Bangladesh in July this year alongside four other family members. Father and husband Rafiqul and her son Mahiqul Islam died immediately and her daughter Samira Islam died a month later.
Police in Bangladesh and a spokesman for the Cardiff Bangladeshi Society confirmed the death and said that while Hosne had initially been released from hospital she had not recovered well after the incident and was re-admitted before her death. She is survived by her son Sadikul Islam, who is in his 20s.
Read more: Cardiff woman, 20, becomes third member of family to die in suspected Bangladesh poisoning
The family are British citizens and travelled to Bangladesh in the summer. They live in the Riverside area of Cardiff and Mr Islam worked as a taxi driver. UK records list Mr Islam's name as Rofikul with his wife's name and age given as Husnara, 46. Hundreds turned out to mourn the family after taxi driver Rafiqul and his son died and Samira was found unconscious.
Police confirmed the family came to Bangladesh on July 12 and that they moved into the flat where they were found on July 18. In investigating the cause of the poisoning, expected to be carbon monoxide, officers said Hosne Ara and Sadikul had told them a faulty emergency electricity generator in the property they were staying at had been used on the night of the tragedy due to a power cut.
Supt Farid Uddin said officers had visited the property with Hosne Ara and Sadikul, adding the generator pumped out smoke as it was running, which could have led to suffocation. He said: "We collected a smoke sample from the generator and we sent it to fire service to see if chemicals were also found in the bodies of the deceased and of the survivors. We have to wait for some days to get the chemical analysis report."
After dinner on Monday, July 25, police say the family fell asleep in the same room. Between 10am and 10.30am on Tuesday their relatives tried to open the door to the flat. They called the police when they heard no sounds inside. Police found the door locked, broke it open, and recovered the five unconscious victims inside.
The news of Hosne's death, making her the fourth tragic victim, has been confirmed by the Cardiff Bangladeshi Society, family friends, and local journalists.
Absul Salem, a spokesman for Cardiff Bangladeshi Society, said: "This is shocking news, it is devastating news. Not only one, or two, or three members of the family gone but four. The whole community is shocked.
"She was released from hospital but wasn't perfectly normal so was readmitted. She couldn't travel back here because of this. Her now only son Sadikul is back in Cardiff and has been, lots of groups are knocking on his door to look after him. Very sad news."
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