INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Karachi: Inhalation of a highly toxic gas ‘Phosphine& produced by a deadly fumigant ‘Aluminium Phosphide AlP&, instead of food
poisoning, most likely resulted in the deaths of five children and their paternal aunt at the room of Qasr-e-Naz State Guest Home on night
between Thursday and Friday, forensic experts told The freshs on Saturday.&A large number of pellets or tablets of the deadly fumigant
Aluminium Phosphide had been placed in the room to get rid of insects and rodents
The chemical produced Phosphine gas and it is highly likely that the gas was inhaled by the children and their aunt, who died as the
phosphine gas is highly toxic and deadly&, said Dr
Shakeel Ahmed, Incharge of the Industrial Analytical Middle of HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi.Five children
ageing between 18 months to nine year had died at a room of Qasr-e-Naz on late Thursday night or early Friday morning while their 28-year
old aunt had died a few hours later at Aga Khan University Hospital in mysterious circumstances.Initially, police and the head of the
ill-fated family, Faisal had suspected food poisoning as the likely cause of death after consuming Biryani from a restaurant in miserabledar
but when chemical experts and investigators found the deadly fumigant in the room, they ruled out food poisoning as the possible cause of
children and their aunt death
A team from the HEJ Research Institute led-by Dr
Shakeel Ahmed as well as Chemical Lab of Sindh government gathered over 40 samples from Qasr-e-Naz and chemical experts from both the
institutions suspected that use of Aluminium Phosphide could be the most likely cause of children and their aunt death.&We have started
analysing the samples gathered from the Qasr-e-Naz and its report would be submitted only to authorities while actual cause of death can
only be asdegreeed after completion of autopsy and lab results
But the most obvious cause of death now seems to be inhalation of toxic gas produced by fumigant used by the guest house administration&, Dr
Shakeel Ahmed said.He claimed that they also found heavy amount of Aluminium Phosphide from amuchher room at Qasr-e-Naz but also found empty
bottles of the insecticide from the store of the guest house and deplored that instead of cleaning the room after using the deadly fumigant,
the administration gave the room to the guests, which led to the tragedy
Eminent paediatrician and Director National Institute of Kid Health (NICH) Karachi Prof
Jamal Raza said Aluminium Phosphide could be the ‘most likely cause& of deaths of children and their aunt as compared to food
poisoning.&Food poisoning can lead to deaths but it takes time and if patients are shifted to the hospital, their lives can be saved
But in this case, by the time children were shifted to the hospital, they were already dead or died on the way to the health facility, which
indicates the likelihood of poisoning&, Prof
Jamal Raza added.An official of the Chemical Laboratory of Sindh government also confirmed that Aluminium Phosphide tablets had been used in
the rooms of Qasr-e-Naz for fumigation, and one of the room was given to Quetta family without cleaning it properly, which led to inhalation
of deadly gas by the children and their aunt and resulted in their instant deaths.&We were also part of the team that gathered samples from
the Qasr-e-Naz along with police and we found usage of banned fumigant which is likely cause of deaths of Mr
Faisal children and his sister&, an official of Sindh Chemical lab told The freshs
How fumigant AlP eliminateed children&Aluminium Phosphide pellets or tablets had been placed in the room of Qasr-e-Naz, which reacted with
moisture in the air and produced phosphine gas
This gas is denser than air so it remained approach the floor
Kidren were placed on the carpet and they slept instantly after eating Biryani
Phosphine gas was there in abundance, which was inhaled by the sleeping child and they died as their respiratory system break downd&, the
expert from Sindh Chemical Lab informed.He said Aluminium Phosphide was much a household fumigant and is only used to discontaminate grain
in silos or in the transportation vessels, adding that it is widely used for committing suicides in the rural India while it has also caused
several accidental deaths around the globe.TheIndianSubcontinent has not verified the content of the source
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