US-Bangla Airlines crash survivor Shaheen Bepari died in the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) yesterday. His uncle Shajahan Bepari confirmed his death to The Independent. Shaheen, 33, was among the 10 Bangladeshi crash survivors. He took that ill-fated flight for a vacation to Nepal. He was undergoing treatment at the DMCH for the past nine days. Prof. Dr Samanta Lal Sen, co-coordinator of the burn unit at the DMCH, told The Independent that Shaheen breathed his last at 4:45pm. He had suffered over 25 per cent burns. “We tried our best to provide him the best treatment. Shaheen’s condition was the worst among the six victims brought to the DMCH from Nepal,” the doctor said.

When asked why Shaheen had not been shifted to Singapore, Dr Samanta Lal Sen said: “Shaheen expressed his desire to come back to Bangladesh from Nepal for his next course of treatment and we tried to treat him with all our effort.”

Earlier, on Sunday night, Shaheen’s condition had worsened and he was shifted to the intensive care unit. He was put on life support last night.

With Shaheen’s death, the number of Bangladeshi nationals killed in the accident rose to 27. Seven of the 10 survivors were brought back home and are undergoing treatment at the DMCH, while three others are being treated in Singapore and India.

At least 51 people, including 26 Bangladeshis, were killed in a deadly crash of the US-Bangla aircraft on its way from Dhaka to Kathmandu at the Tribhuvan International Airport on March 12. DMCH authorities on March 17 formed a 13-member medical board to treat the injured passengers of the ill-fated flight BS21.