LAYYAH: Eight out of the 33 people who were hospitalised on Wednesday after eating poisonous sweetmeat at Chak 105 ML village and its surrounding areas died on Thursday. Three of the victims belonged to the same family.

According to police sources, Muhammad Sajjad had brought sweetmeat (Luddo) from Tariq Hotel and Sweets Shop at Chack 111 ML to celebrate birth of his son and served to his six family members, besides eating himself.

After eating the sweetmeat, all the seven people started vomiting and were shifted to the local district headquarters hospital.

Shop sealed, owner arrested

During the treatment, condition of three of the patients -- Shahbaz Ahmed (9), Ramzan and Irfan -- worsened and they were referred to the Nishtar Hospital Multan, where they died on Thursday morning.

The hospital sources said seven other people from the area were also brought to the facility in a similar condition on Wednesday evening. Out of them, five had to be referred to Nishtar Hospital Multan due to their critical condition, where three of them -- Muhammad Hafeez, Abdul Ghafoor and Amir Muhammad -- died.

Similarly, two others -- Khizer Hayat (28) and three-year-old Haseeb -- both residents of Chak 105 ML, who were shifted to Nishtar Hospital in critical condition, died there.

They said so far 33 such patients were brought to the DHQ hospital and five of them -- Nazakat Ali, Sadakat Hussain, Hameeda Bibi, Allah Ditta and Nusrat Bibi -- were referred to the Nishtar Hospital Multan.

Given the influx of the patients, an emergency has been declared in the DHQ hospital. The hospital’s medical superintendent told Dawn that as many as 28 patients were being treated at the facility and their condition was stable. “We are providing all medicines (to the patients) and their blood samples have been taken for further investigation,” he said.

Executive District Officer (health) Dr Ameer Abdullah said a health department team had sealed the shop from where the poisonous sweetmeat was bought and taken samples for analysis.

“We have seized three rappers and one sachet of a weedicide from the shop We have also lodged an FIR with Fathe Pur police station under the Pure Food Act against the shop owner,” he said.

District Police Officer Muhammad Ali Zia said that the shop owner Khalid Mahmoud had been arrested and an FIR had bee lodged.

District Physician Dr Zafer Iqbal Mulghani said so far the patients were being provided initial medical help as no antidote could be administered before identification of the specific poison in the sweetmeat.

He added that cheep imported liquid glucose was being used in manufacturing of the sweetmeat at the shop instead of sugar which was costly. “This might be the reason for poisoning of the sweetmeat,” he added.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2016