Nepal air crash survivor Shahin Bepari’s condition ‘worse than thought’, doctor says

Doctors say US-Bangla Airlines plane crash survivor Shahin Bepari’s condition is worst among the six victims brought back from Nepal, and his burn injuries are much more severe than they had been initially told.

Sazia Afrin and Tarek Hasan Nirjhorbdnews24.com
Published : 19 March 2018, 02:57 PM
Updated : 19 March 2018, 03:32 PM

Dhaka Medical College Hospital burns unit coordinator Dr Samanta Lal Sen told bdnews24.com on Monday "Shahin's condition was worst among the six victims brought to the hospital from Nepal".

He said papers from Nepal had said he had 16 percent of his skin burnt in the crash.

“But doctors today found while dressing his injuries that he had suffered more than 30 percent burns. These are deep burns. He is in the worst condition,” doctor Sen said.

Dr Sen said they would decide about a surgery on Shahin quickly. “Many factors are related to the issue,” the doctor said.

Shahin, the manager of a clothing shop in Dhaka’s Sadarghat, lives in Narayanganj.

Dr Sen said Shahreen Ahmed, the first victim brought back to Bangladesh, also needed surgery for deep burns on her shoulder. He said they had been informed she had suffered 5 percent burns, but later found the burns were on 10 percent of her skin. 

“We are a little bit worried about the condition of these two victims,” he said.

The four others admitted to the hospital were Saiyada Kamrunnahar Swarna, her husband Mehedi Hasan, Mehedi’s sister-in-law Almun Nahar Annie, and Sheikh Rashed Rubaiyat.

The physician said they would keep the four under observation at the hospital for around a week.

Later in the day, Annie was released from the hospital.

Two of the 10 Bangladeshi survivors have been sent to Singapore from Nepal while two others are still under treatment at a Katmandu hospital.

At least 49 people died on Mar 12 after the aircraft crashed as it flew in to land at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.

Of the 26 dead Bangladeshi passengers and crew  members, bodies of 23 were brought back for burial on Monday.

Seventy-one people were on board the plane arriving from Dhaka when it clipped the fence of the runway and burst into flames.

The causes of the disaster are still being investigated, though the US-Bangla Airlines earlier said the pilot had received wrong signals from the control tower. But the airport officials have blamed it on the pilot's error.