137 hospitalised after drinking soda milk in Faisalabad

Almost all the patients have been discharged

FAISALABAD:

The condition of five children who had consumed unwholesome milk soda on Sunday night is serious, doctors at the Allied Hospital said on Monday. As many as 137 people complaining of food poisoning were brought to Allied Hospital and General Hospital on Sunday night. They had consumed beverages served for free at the inauguration of a soda milk stand on Sunday night.

Several residents of Muraad Abad Muhallah in Ghulam Muhammad Abad, where the milk soda stand had opened, blamed the incident on “negligence” of Food Department officials. They demanded the government take action against Food Department officials.



The health deputy district officer and District Food Committee Secretary Rana Imran Khan told journalists on Monday that Sarwar Gujjar, a milkman, son of Niamat, had opened a soda milk stand in Muraad Abad Muhallah on Sunday night. He had distributed the beverage to visitors, mostly children, for free on the opening night.

However, within a few hours, most of the people who had drank the soda milk started feeling violently sick. They were taken to Ghulam Muhammad Abad General Hospital which soon ran out of beds and facilities to cater to such a large number of patients. Doctors there said that they could treat 39 patients and had sent 98 patients to Allied Hospital in Faisalabad.

All the patients admitted in Ghulam Muhammad Abad General Hospital were discharged on Monday. Another 92 patients were discharged from Allied Hospital where six children are still under treatment. “They are being given intensive care treatment but their condition is critical,” Dr Imran, at the Allied Hospital, said.



A police spokesperson said that the Ghulam Muhammad Abad police had registered a case against three people including Gujjar, his employee Muhammad Haneef and Abdur Raheem, the owner of the soda factory where they had purchased the carbonated beverages. The three suspects are in a police lock-up for the time being, the spokesperson said.

DCO Salman Ghani visited Allied Hospital and Ghulam Muhammad Abad General Hospital and inquired about the health of the patients. He also directed the administration of Allied Hospital to provide the best possible intensive care treatment to the ill children.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2016.