SWAT: Two minor girls died of a mysterious disease in Qalagey village of Tangbanr area in Kabal tehsil on Monday evening.

According to locals, several people have been suffering from a mysterious disease in the area for the past few days. They said that the patients suffered from diarrhoea, vomiting and throat and chest infections.

The villagers said that two girls identified as Arafat, 7, and Sania, 8, were also infected by the disease. They were rushed to tehsil hospital in Kabal but they could not survive.

“We rushed the two girls to hospital where they could not receive proper treatment. Both the girls died,” said Multan Khan, a relative of one of the deceased girls.

He said that different people, mostly children, were suffering from the same disease. He feared more deaths in the area if proper attention was not paid to the patients.

The district health officer Dr Mohammad Saleem, when contacted, said that the deceased girls had throat and chest infections.

He added that they were brought to the hospital when their condition became critical.

“The parents did not bring the children in time to the hospitals but initially they were treated by local dispensers. They were shifted to the hospital when their condition deteriorated,” he said.

The official said that health teams were sent to the village. He said that blood and other samples of deceased girls were sent to laboratory for test. “We would be able confirm the cause of the deaths after receiving results of the tests,” However, our team has started vaccination for different diseases in the area,” he added.

Meanwhile, a man was killed and 12 other people, including a woman, sustained injuries when two cars collided in Farhatabad area of Khwazakhela on Tuesday.

According to police, the cars were part of a wedding procession and went out of drivers’ control and collided. Najeebullah was killed while 12 other people travelling in both the vehicles were severely injured. The injured were rushed to tehsil hospital Khwazakhela.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2022