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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Ryan Fahey

Young woman, 20, becomes third member of Brit family to die after suspected poisoning

A young Brit woman is the latest member of her family to die after a suspected poisoning in Bangladesh.

Samira Islam, 20, from Cardiff passed away at around 8.30am yesterday morning in Sylhet, a region of the country's north-east.

Her brother Mahiqul, 16, and dad Rafiqul, 51, were found dead at a flat they were renting on July 26 before emergency responders rushed the remaining famly members, including Samira, to hospital.

Hundreds gathered in the streets of Sylhet to mourn the deaths of the taxi driver and his son.

Mum Hosne Ara Islam, 40, and their other son Sadikul, 21, were found unconscious but survived and have now been released from hospital.

Local police said the family arrived in the country on July 12, and were found in the flat just six days later.

Officials are pursuing the idea the family died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The family were staying at a rented flat in the Sylhet, Bangladesh (Media Wales)

Speaking with Wales Online, District Superintendent Uddin said: "After discussing the overall situation with the doctors and inspecting the scene we believe this may have been a case of poisoning.

"The investigation is ongoing into whether it is poisoning or something else."

Last month, local media outlet Prothomalo reported that an autopsy found "light blue and brown liquids in their nose".

The family were spending two months in Bangladesh visiting family.

It's understood that one of their relatives found their bodies.

The family member who found them said there was no answer when they tapped on the window, but could see the family-of-five scrawled across two beds when they looked through it.

Police fear the family may have died of carbon monoxide poisoning (Media Wales)

It's thought they had been running a faulty generator in the flat that night after a power cut.

On Thursday, Supt Uddin said officers had visited the property with Husnara and Sadiqul, 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."

On Wednesday before her death, it was reported that Samira was in an "alarming" condition in intensive care.

Contrary to the police chief's comments, a doctor said on Tuesday there was no concrete evidence the family had been poisoned.

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