Two sisters have died tragically after mistakenly drinking pesticides kept in a bottle of beverage in Ishwardi. The deceased identified are Rahima Khatun (6) and her sister Khadija Khatun (4), daughters of Babu Mandal, an autorickshaw driver from Arankola village in the municipal area.
Khadija died at Suhrawardy Hospital in Dhaka on Wednesday night and Rahima died at her home on Thursday afternoon.
According to the locals, Khadija, Rahima and Ritu are three sisters. On Tuesday, the three sisters went with their mother to visit their grandfather's house in Athail Shimul village of Dashuria union of the upazila. There they saw a bottle of beverage, which was kept in a table.
Then along with few more children, the three sisters, poured the pesticide into the glass thinking it was a beverage.
Khadija and Rahima fainted immediately due to pesticide poisoning. Other children were saved as they vomited. Baby Khadija was rushed to a local doctor and was given first aid.
From there Khadija was sent to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital. As her condition deteriorated, she was shifted to Dhaka Suhrawardy Hospital from Rajshahi. It was there that Khadija died on Wednesday night and Rahima at her home on Thursday afternoon.
Abul Hashem, councillor of the 8th ward of the municipality, said that despite their best efforts, the two children could not be saved. The tragic death cast a shadow of mourning over the area.
