Ajman: The father of two young girls who died of suspected pesticide poisoning earlier this month has spoken of his devastation.
“I feel that my life has died,” Habib Allah Miah, a Bangladeshi tailor, told Gulf News with tears pouring down his face.
“I used to see my two daughters running in the house, laughing, playing and their death changes every aspect of my family life, they have left an enormous emptiness.”
“All bereaved parents know that ‘nothing’,” he said, “that moment when the noise that you sometimes wish for five minutes you didn’t have in your life turns into a deafening silence. And that moment is so terrifying that you find yourself in a place you never knew existed.”
The grieving parents were holding photo albums of the girls and recalled how they were full of joy and fun. Habib Allah’s wife, Safya Akhtar, remained silent as she was in a state of shock.
“I feel that my two daughters are nearby, playing and laughing,” Habib Allah said with tears on his face.
Our life with the girls was idyllic and now it’s vanished, he said.
It is believed three-year-old Hafsa and eight-month-old Sawda inhaled fumes from pesticides that were sprayed in a neighbour’s apartment.
The grieving father told Gulf News of the final days of the girls’ lives.
“That day I went to my work just like every other day — I came back home but my daughters were still asleep, It was unusual, they used to wake up early and shower and play. They were full of activity.
“Later I went to drop my friends at the airport. My wife called and said ‘Come home now. Our daughters are not well, they are vomiting and their condition has worsened,’”
He arrived at the family home in the new industrial area of Ajman.
“I saw my daughters were in pain and not feeling well and they were moving around due to their pain.
“We did not expect that the reason would be pesticide poisoning. We rushed them to hospital and they gave them medicine and discharged them. The second day they started vomiting again and we gave them the same medicine to stop their vomiting but my elder daughter started experiencing pain in her heart, she put her hands on her heart because of the pain. Then we took them to another hospital. They did not tell us the girls had pesticide poisoning. They took the elder daughter and put her on a drip, later they removed the drips from her hand and told us she had died.”
Hafsa took her last breath at around 7pm while Sawda died about three hours later.
Habib Allah said the hospital told them they were not able to deal with the case.
“If they knew that they could not help why they did not tell us to take our daughters to another hospital and we might have saved their lives?
“I think the hospital should be questioned. We lost our daughters but they should avoid the same issue with other parents,” he said.
“Our neighbour called me 24 hours after his house was sprayed with pesticide and informed me not to let the children approach the house.”
The neighbour was not present in his apartment because the pesticide company had asked him to stay away for at least two days. Police have taken the neighbour into custody for further action and have sealed the flat pending investigations.
Habib Allah has lived in the UAE since 1994. His first marriage was in 1998 and he married again in 2008. His first daughter, Hafsa, was born in 2010 in Bangladesh and his second daughter, Sawda, was born in October 2012 in Ajman.
Ajman Police have locked the two apartments to investigate the reason behind the girls’ death.
“I trust the law and I believe that Ajman Police will take the right decision in the case,” the girls’ father said.
‘We’ve had many moments of utter despair,” he says.
“We have lost two children and we are the only people in the world who know how that feels — we are not going to lose each other.”
“Together we are passionate about not letting this forever damage our family,” he added.
“All my daughters’ belongings remain in the same place, our apartment is locked by police and we will receive the keys after an investigation is completed but I will change my accommodation. I cannot stay in the same place where my two daughters died, I can see them and hear their voices.”
“The memories of joyful moments you spent with your child and the love you shared will live on and always be part of you,” he said.
