KARACHI, Oct 16: At least two people died of diarrhoea and more than a hundred fell seriously sick on Saturday in Nek Mohammad Goth, situated in the Surjani Town, ostensibly after consuming contaminated water.

The names of the deceased were Ghani Bakhsh, son of Khamisa Khan, a 60-year-old man, and his 14-year-old daughter, Rehana. Two children also reportedly died but their names could not be ascertained till our going to press.

Talking from Nek Mohammad Goth over the telephone, Rizwan Edhi of the Edhi Foundation told Dawn that more than 50 of the affected people had been treated by his volunteers, numbering 30. "Six among these were in very serious condition," he said.

These people had been shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for further treatment, said Mr Edhi. The names of three of these people were: Farzana, 14 years; Noor Bibi, 43 years; and, Faraz Ali, 4 years. The names of the remaining three could not be determined.

For treatment, 20 people in all had been sent to various hospitals including Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Sindh Government Hospital New Karachi and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, said Rizwan. However, one source at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital said the sick people were not being entertained there.

Rasool Bakhsh, a middle-aged resident of the goth, told this reporter over the telephone that the area was devoid of electricity and there was no medical centre nearby.

"This is the main reason why there were fatalities." He added that the residents of the village had not indulged in any new activity which could have caused the diarrhoea outbreak.

"Since long we have been consuming water which is supplied through a pipeline to the residents but we have not had such a problem before. This time too we drank water from this source."

In response to a question, Mr Bakhsh said there was a consensus among the residents that the outbreak was triggered by consumption of water which was apparently contaminated.

Rizwan said the affected area was a far-flung one and the ambulances took a while to reach the village. Answering a question, he said several ambulances which were equipped with life-saving equipment and medicines had been deployed to deal with the difficult situation.

These specially built ambulances were part of the foundation's newly launched programme called Edhi Emergency Medical Service. Many 'normal' ambulances had also been pressed into service.

When contacted the health secretary, Prof Noshad Sheikh, said the health department had decided to install at least one camp in the affected area. "I have instructed the concerned officers, who are reaching the affected area to provide treatment to the patients."

Arrangements had also been made to get the water samples from the area tested in two well-known laboratories of the city, he said.

It had been decided, he added, that some of the sick people be admitted to a private hospital which was nearby.