Remains of Keamari ‘toxic gas’ victims to be exhumed

Court seeks report on cause of death in seven days

KARACHI:

The judicial magistrate West approved the plea of the police to exhume the graves of 18 persons who allegedly died by inhaling hazardous fumes in Keamari's Ali Muhammad Goth and ordered the health secretary to form a medical board.

The court ordered the investigation officer and the health department to send the remains for post-mortem to ascertain the cause of the death of all those who are believed to have died from inhaling toxic fumes. The court also ordered them to submit a report of the same within seven days.

A day earlier, the police had filed an application requesting the court regarding the exhumation of the graves to which the plaintiff did not raise any objection. The following day, SSP Investigation Keamari Saleem Shah along with his team visited Ali Muhammad Goth and got information regarding the illegal factories established in the area.

He also met residents. Police say that the investigation will be conducted on civil and technical grounds. With the permission of the deputy commissioner, the five sealed factories would be unsealed and samples will be obtained from there. The police added the request had been approved by the judicial magistrate. One of the factory owners is currently in police custody while two others are on interim pre-arrest bail.

On Tuesday, a two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Sindh High Court Justice Ahmad Ali Shaikh heard the petition related to deaths alllegedly from inhaling poisonous gas in 2020 and January 2023 in Keamari, where Sindh IG, advocate general and other officials appeared. During the hearing, the court inquired why first information reports (FIR) weren't registered for all 18 deaths that took place last month.

After that, the police registered ten cases. It should be recalled that 18 people, including children and women, died of a mysterious disease in Ali Muhammad Goth. According to the investigation report issued by the Sindh Health Department, 15 deaths occurred between January 9 and January 24.

During the investigation conducted between January 26 and 28, 48 tests of Covid19 were conducted for the diagnosis of diseases, 31 patients had chest x-rays done and blood samples of 13 patients were sent to the National Institute of Health Sciences.