Their mother, who is still under treatment, bade farewell to her children from the hospital bed.
PHOTO: EXPRESS
KARACHI: The two children, who died from alleged food poisoning on Sunday, were laid to rest amid moving scenes at the Defence Housing Authority Phase VII graveyard on Monday.
Their mother, who is still under treatment, bade farewell to her children from the hospital bed.
According to South SSP Pir Muhammad Shah, the family had dined out at a high-end restaurant, located on Zamzama Boulevard, in DHA Phase V, and had later consumed candy from a shop outside an amusement park on Sea View Road.
Authorities have sealed the restaurant for forensic analysis while the police have initiated their own investigation.
Post-mortem
On Sunday night, the bodies of the minor siblings were shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for autopsy. Additional police surgeon Dr Sheeraz Ali Khowaja told The Express Tribune that the bodies of the victims, five-year-old Muhammad and one-and-a-half year old Ahmed, sons of Ahsan, were brought to the mortuary at around 11pm on Sunday. The post-mortem commenced at midnight and continued till 2:30am.
According to the police, the children and their mother had reached home around 2am on Saturday night after dining out. Their health deteriorated at around 6am, but they did not reach the hospital until after 1pm on Sunday.
Dr Khowaja told The Express Tribune that both children had complained of stomach aches and had vomited. It was at this point that their mother, who had also taken ill, decided to go to the hospital. Unfortunately, one of the children passed away en route to the hospital while the other died during treatment.
Investigations
According to the police surgeon, samples from the child's organs will sent to Lahore for chemical examination as the government laboratory in Karachi has been facing technical issues. A control sample has also been sent to the Dow University for better efficacy. Meanwhile, the victim's blood samples have also been drawn and will be sent for blood culture tests. Prima facie, Dr Khowaja said, the incident seemed to be a case of food poisoning caused by bacteria or a virus. He added, however, that the cause would ultimately be determined on the basis of the chemical examination reports, which may take between five and 10 days to arrive.
Two minors die after dining out at high-end Karachi restaurant
Meanwhile, the investigation team collected samples from the restaurant and candy stall, which were then sent to three separate laboratories for testing. Both venues were sealed by the authorities on Sunday as soon as news of the deaths broke.
South Zone Investigation Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Tariq Dharejo said that the samples taken from the sealed restaurant have been sent to a private hospital at Stadium Road, a private hospital in Clifton and JPMC.
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He added that the investigation team will reveal its findings after taking into account the forensics report of the food samples and the post-mortem report.
SSP Dharejo said that the team will request the Karachi additional inspector general to include a surgeon in the investigations, because the final conclusions will be drawn from the medical reports and only a doctor can review the results.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th, 2018.
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