A child, last surviving member of electrocuted family in Moulvibazar, loses battle for her life

Sonia, 12, dies a day after losing her parents and siblings, who were electrocuted when a power line fell on their tin house

Sonia Sultana, a 12-year-old girl whose parents and three siblings died from electrocution when a power line fell on their tin house in Moulvibazar, has succumbed to her injuries.

She was transferred from Sylhet to Dhaka for advanced medical care but was declared dead by doctors around 5am on Wednesday, according to SM Mainuddin, the chief of Juri Police Station.

Sonia was the last surviving member of Faizur Rahman's family.

She was initially taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital before being transferred to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery. By the time she arrived at the national burn institute, she had already died, said Tariqul Islam, resident physician at the hospital's emergency department.

Faizur was a speech-impaired day labourer, who lived with his family in the Bhangar Par area of Goalbari village in Juri Upazila. He could not afford a home power connection.

Amid rain and lightning on Tuesday morning, the rural electricity wire above their home snapped and fell onto the tin roof, electrocuting those inside. Faizur, 50, his wife Shiri Begum, 45, and their children Samia, 15, Sabina, 9, and Sayem Uddin, 7, were killed.

Sonia, who was critically injured, was initially taken to the MAG Osmani Hospital in Sylhet before being transferred to Dhaka, where she eventually succumbed to her injuries.

She was a second-grader at the local North Goalbari Government Primary School. The funerals for her parents and siblings took place on Tuesday afternoon, after which they were buried in the local graveyard. Sonia will also be laid to rest there, according to her uncle Azir Uddin.