British dad and son poisoned in Bangladesh, police say

• The family was staying in a flat near Sylhet, a city in Bangladesh’s northeast. Rafiqul Islam, 51, and his son Mahiqul, 16, were killed on their way to hospital.
• Husnara, 45, and Samira, 20, are in critical condition while Sadiqul, 24, is receiving treatment. The mother and daughter are critically ill in hospital.
• Post-mortem examinations have been performed and sent to Dhaka. Foreign Office providing consular assistance to British family following incident.

According to police, a father and son from Cardiff died and three other family members are in intensive care after being poisoned in Bangladesh.

The family was staying in a flat near Sylhet, a city in Bangladesh’s northeast.

After relatives raised the alarm, police officers broke into the building on Tuesday morning.

Rafiqul Islam, 51, and his son Mahiqul, 16, were killed on their way to the hospital, while his wife and two other children are receiving treatment.

The Riverside family was on a two-month visit to the country when they were discovered unconscious.

Husnara, 45, and Samira, 20, were in critical condition, according to Supt Farid Uddin, while Sadiqul, 24, was receiving treatment.

“We believe this may have been a case of poisoning after discussing the overall situation with the doctors and inspecting the scene,” he said.

“The other people in the building are the victims’ close relatives.” We interrogated them. We believe they fell asleep shortly after dinner last night.

“This needs to be looked into further.” How did they get poisoned? How did they perish? After an investigation, we will be able to confirm.”

He claimed that relatives called police after hearing no sound coming from the flat.

Officers broke into the house and found five unconscious victims inside.

“After they were taken to the hospital, the father and the youngest son were declared dead,” Supt Uddin added.

“The mother and daughter are critically ill.” They have been moved to the intensive care unit. Sadiqul, the other brother, is being treated.”

He stated that all five family members were sleeping in the same room on Monday night, and that when they did not wake up at around 10:00 p.m. local time, family members raised the alarm.

Initially thought to be food poisoning, the incident is now being investigated by police.

Post-mortem examinations have been performed and sent to Dhaka. The results could take up to five days to arrive.

“Everyone is shocked,” said Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, assistant secretary of the Bangladeshi Association in Cardiff.

“It’s summer holidays and a lot of British-Bangladeshi people are in Bangladesh right now, especially in Sylhet, Osmani Nagar, and Tajpur, where this incident happened,” Muhibur Islam said.

“It is something we will never forget.” We are praying for him.”

“The entire community itself is in shock of a well-known family, very well known in the area over the years,” Muhibur Islam of Jalalia Mosque and Islamic education centre added.

“It’s simply disbelief.” That’s what it is: total disbelief.”

“We are providing consular assistance to a British family following an incident in Bangladesh and are in contact with the local authorities,” the Foreign Office said.

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