Poisonous food: 100 shelter home children fall ill in Islamabad

Shelter patron-in-chief says condition of children is now stable

ISLAMABAD: Around 100 children on Sunday fell seriously ill after taking substandard food that caused excessive vomiting and partial unconsciousness.

The children sheltered by Pakistan Sweet Homes located in Islamabad were rushed to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for medical treatment, Express News reported.

“The condition of the children is now stable while some of them severely affected are being provided further medical treatment,” said patron-in-chief of the shelter service, Zamarud Khan while speaking to reporters.

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He furthered that the children were served with bread and milk for breakfast and there had been no reports of any contamination in the food.

Meanwhile, spokesperson for PIMS confirmed that the children fell ill as a result of food poisoning. “About 60 per cent suffered from food poisoning but there condition is now stable,” said Dr. Aisha.

Sweet Homes is a project of Pakistan Baitul Mal and works to provide under privileged children a space to live as well as educate and engage them in extracurricular activities.

On January 31, a girl died apparently due to food poisoning in District Central, Karachi. Thirteen-year-old Kinza, daughter of Abdul Bari, a student of class eight and a resident of Block-N, North Nazimabad, was admitted to Ziauddin Hospital in the same neighbourhood.

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Her family claimed that Kinza, her mother Dr Shazia and two siblings, Noman and Shayan, had eaten burgers from a fast food joint – Dilpasand – in North Nazimabad. The four fell sick and were admitted to Ziauddin Hospital, where Kinza died during treatment.

Children discharged, readmitted

Some of the children that were discharged from PIMS after recovering fell sick again and started vomiting, prompting the shelter authorities to admit them in the medical facility yet again.