Food poisoning leaves family of six unconscious in Karachi

Police said family members were partially conscious and foaming from their mouths

KARACHI: A six-member family fell unconscious at their home on Thursday allegedly due to the consumption of poisonous food. They were immediately shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

The family members include the mother, Kanwal, 45, the daughters, Rafeel, 28, Sania, 26, Hira, 30, and sons 11-year-old Gul Hassan and 24-year-old Shehzad. They are residents of Ahsanabad Al-Manzil Society near Sunday Market, which falls in the jurisdiction of SITE Police Station. Shehzad worked at a private hotel and the family were residing in a house given by the hotel.



An officer from Ahsanabad Police check-post, Shabbir Ahmed, said that Kanwal’s brother, Waseem, registered a complaint about the incident at the check-post at 8:20am. The ambulance available on the spot immediately shifted the family to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. The Waseem contacted the father, Kher Muhammad, who had gone to interior Sindh for business purposes and informed him about the incident.

The officer further said that when he reached the family’s residence, the family members were partially conscious and were foaming from their mouths. Shehzad was in a room, his mother was sleeping in the TV lounge and his sisters and younger brother were sleeping in a separate room.

The police officer said that he did not find any suspicious odour in the house but added that prior to their arrival the uncle had opened the doors of their house. He added that the statements of the affected family members would be recorded once they regain consciousness.

The uncle said that his wife had been receiving calls from their relatives in the village that no one in Kanwal’s house was answering any calls. He said that after dropping his daughter to their school, he went to Kanwal’s house where he saw that everybody was lying unconscious and foaming from their mouths.

Sources at the hospital said that samples of urine and stool were collected from all the affected family member and have been sent to a private laboratory for analysis. It is hoped that the reason for their condition will be determined after the reports are received.