STAFF CORRESPONDENT, Ctg

A girl has died after battling severe burn injuries for over a month following a devastating explosion at her home in Halishahar, bringing the death toll to seven and wiping out an entire family.

The deceased was Umme Ayman Snigdha, 10. She breathed her last around 2:00am yesterday at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.

She was the daughter of motor parts trader Sakhawat Hossain, who was killed in the February 23 blast along with his wife, Nurjahan Begum, and son, Safayat Hossain. With Snigdha’s death, all four members of the family have now perished.

The other victims included Sakhawat’s brothers, Samir Ahmed, a Portuguese expatriate, and Shipon Hossain, as well as Samir’s wife, Pakhi Akhter. Two children, Ayesha, 4, and Farhan Ahmed, 6, remain under treatment.

The explosion occurred on the third floor of a six-storey building in the port city.

“One by one, everyone is gone… It has been a month, yet we still don’t know what caused the explosion,” said Mohiuddin Jony, the victim’s brother-in-law.

Despite multiple probes, the cause remains unknown. A report by Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited ruled out gas leakage but failed to identify the trigger.