Hospital owner, family, found unconscious at home

A couple and their five children apparently fell unconscious allegedly due to pesticide fumes at their home in Phase VI of Defence Housing Authority, within the limits of Darakhshan Police Station.

One of the children, however, died during treatment. The owner of the bungalow on Khayaban-e-Sehar, Dr Ziauddin Sheikh, owns Sir Syed Hospital in Qayumabad.

According to police, an employee at the house said that the house was fumigated on Tuesday. The family came back late on Tuesday night and went to sleep. However, they were found unresponsive on Wednesday morning, police said quoting the servant.Alarmed at the situations, the house servants called the family members of the owners, who rushed them first to Sheikh's own hospital in Qayyumabad and then to South City Hospital in Clifton.

During treatment at the hospital in Clifton, five-year-old Moinuddin Sheikh died. The unconscious people include Dr Ziauddin Sheikh, his wife, two daughters, eight-year-old Jannat, 16-year-old Zara, and two sons 13-year-old Zohaib and 11-year-old Shah Zain.

Police say that more information is being collected regarding the incident and fumigation fumes cannot be considered as the conclusive cause of the incident. Police will interview the victims once they gain full consciousness.