Doctors separated the girls, Maria and Halima, who were joined at the navel, 11 days after they were born but Maria died at midnight Sunday, about nine hours after the complicated surgery at IBH.

"We tried our best to save Maria but she was clinically dead just before midnight after she suffered several cardiac arrests in the process," said Dr Ruhul Amin, the surgeon who performed the one-hour surgery, his second such attempt.

"We took off the artificial life support system obtaining verbal consent from her father Shahed Ali," he said.

Two previous operations in Bangladesh to separate conjoined twins have resulted in the death of one or both of the children.

The other twin Halima continues to do well but is still not out of danger. She has been kept isolated under observation on the 4th floor of the hospital.

If Halima survives, she will face extensive reconstructive surgery in six months as the twins shared all organs below the waist, doctors said.

Maria was stable until 6pm Sunday. She suffered first heart attack at 8:00pm and two more soon, said Dr Ruhul Amin.

Maria's vital organs were functioning well but she soon started to show symptoms of organ failures, especially the kidneys.

"There was no other option but to disconnect the life support system," he said.

Maria's namaz-e-janaza was held yesterday on the hospital premises.