A woman succumbed to her injuries Sunday night after suffering severe burns in a gas explosion that killed her four-year-old daughter earlier the same day in Dhaka’s Aftabnagar area.

Mansura Akhtar, 28, died while undergoing treatment at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery at around 10:30 pm, hours after the death of her daughter Tanzila, who passed away at approximately 3:00 pm.

Dr Shaon Bin Rahman, a resident surgeon at the institute, confirmed Mansura's death.

“She had burns on 67 percent of her body, including damage to her airway. She was being treated in the High Dependency Unit (HDU), but we couldn’t save her,” he said.

Three other members of the same family — her husband Tofazzal Hossain, 32, and daughters Tanisha, 11, and Mithila, 8 — remain in critical condition, with burns ranging from 30 to 80 percent.

The tragic incident occurred around 11:30 pm on Friday (May 17) following a suspected gas leak and explosion on the ground floor of a three-storey building in South Anandanagar, Aftabnagar.

According to family members, gas had reportedly been leaking from an underground line damaged during nearby construction work. “We informed the landlord in the morning, but no action was taken,” said Md Ripon, a relative of the victims. “That night, when they lit mosquito coils inside the house, the gas ignited and caused an explosion.”

Tofazzal, a daily wage earner, is the father of four daughters. While three of them were injured in the fire, the eldest daughter survived as she was staying at her in-laws’ home at the time of the incident.

SMS/