Karachi minors died after consuming substandard food: sources

KARACHI: Medical reports of the two children who died after eating out at a restaurant in Karachi last month suggest the minors died of food poisoning, investigative sources revealed on Tuesday.

According to medical reports obtained by the police, the ill-fated children had consumed substandard food which resulted in food poisoning, eventually causing their death the next day, the sources said.

Two siblings, 18-month-old Ahmed and Muhammad, 5, died from a suspected case of food poisoning on November 11, after dining out with their mother at a local eatery the previous night. The incident triggered a police investigation into the case, and resulted in the sealing of the restaurant in question.

An earlier report found no trace of poison in the food samples collected from the house of the children.

Sources familiar with the matter said the final cause of the minors’ death would be determined in light of the microbiology report, which is yet to be released. A panel of doctors would be constituted to discuss the findings of the report, they added.

Nearly 60 food samples had been sent to the laboratories for chemical analysis following the children’s death. During a raid the same week, the Sindh Food Authority had recovered expired meat from the eatery in question, located in the upscale Zamzama neighbourhood of Karachi.