The autopsy of two minor siblings, who died on Sunday from suspected food poisoning after eating out at a Karachi restaurant, was carried out at the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) on Monday.

Dr Sheeraz Ali Khowaja, the additional police surgeon at JPMC, told Dawn that the cause of deaths will be disclosed in the chemical examination report.

The brothers had died yesterday after eating "poisonous food" at a restaurant in Clifton, according to police officials. Funeral prayers for both the boys were held today.

“Two minor brothers namely Ahmad, one and half year old, and Muhammad, five, died from food poisoning on Sunday afternoon,” SSP South Pir Muhammed Shah had said on Sunday.

According to the police, the family had dined out the previous night at Arizona Grill restaurant located in Defence Housing Authority's (DHA) Zamzama area and afterwards, had consumed candy from a shop outside Chunky Monkey amusement park located in Phase IV, DHA.

Police initiated a probe into the matter and the restaurant was sealed for forensic investigation.

Quoting the mother, the city police chief said that the kids reached home at 2am and they started vomiting at 6am. Relatives present in the house took them to the hospital at 2:45pm. AIG Amir said that food poisoning tends to affect the body within four hours of its consumption.

Police investigators took samples of the children's blood, urine, and of vomit from dustbin and clothes. These samples will be sent to Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) for testing, according to the police.

Furthermore, police had revealed that the children had also consumed milk at home, samples of which had also been collected.

The mother in her statement to the police had said that the candy which the children had bought from a shop outside the amusement park in DHA had a "strange flavour". Therefore, the police have also taken eight samples from the candy shop.

Minister for food orders strict action against those responsible

Meanwhile, provincial minister for food Hari Ram Kishori Lal has taken notice of the incident and urged the authorities to "take strict action against those responsible".

"A sad incident took place yesterday," the PPP minister said while chairing a session of the Sindh Food Authority. "The investigations into this case should be completed soon."

Furthermore, Lal directed the board members to finalise within one week the laws to make the Sindh Food Authority "completely active".