Two siblings found dead at Hatirjheel house; food poisoning suspected

Police have recovered the bodies of two siblings from a residence in Dhaka's Hatirjheel area, suspecting that they may have died due to food poisoning.

The deceased are Afrida Chowdhury, 10, a class three student at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College on Bailey Road, and her one-year-old brother Ilham Chowdhury.

Hatirjheel police recovered the bodies from a freezing ambulance parked at the garage of SHS Tower No 91 at Wireless Mor around 8:30pm yesterday and sent to the Dhaka Medical College (DMC) morgue for autopsy this morning after inquest reports were prepared.

Sub-Inspector Md Suman Mia of Hatirjheel Police Station said police went to the spot after receiving information and recovered the bodies. "No injury marks were found on the bodies," he said.

According to police, the children's father, Mosleh Uddin Chowdhury, is a general manager at a garment factory, while their mother, Saida Jakawat Ara, is a homemaker.

The parents and their two children had dinner together on Friday evening and went to sleep. Yesterday morning, Afrida fell ill and was taken to a local hospital at Razarbagh, where doctors declared her dead around 7:00am. Her body was later brought back home.

Shortly afterwards, Ilham also started vomiting and became seriously ill. He was taken to a hospital at Moghbazar, where he died while undergoing treatment in the afternoon, the SI said, quoting relatives.

The SI said both parents also fell ill after eating the same food but later recovered after receiving treatment.

"Initially, it appears that the children may have died due to food poisoning. However, we have yet to determine whether the food was cooked at home or brought from outside. The exact cause of death will be known after we receive the post-mortem reports," he added.