KARACHI: A child died while his six family members fainted after inhaling fumes of insecticide sprayed at their Defence Housing Authority home on Thursday, said police.

South DIG Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that Dr Zia-ud-Din Sheikh had his house, located near Khayaban-i-Seher, Phase-VI, sprayed with insecticide on Wednesday.

On Thursday at 11pm, all seven family members fell unconscious.

They were taken to South City Hospital in Clifton where one of them, identified as five-year-old Moin-ud-Din, was pronounced dead on arrival.

The South police chief said that Dr Zia-ud-Din Sheikh, his wife, their children — Shah Zain, 11; Zahra, 16; Zohair, 13 and Jannat, eight — had been admitted for treatment.

“Dr Zia-ud-Din Sheikh is the owner of Sir Syed Hospital in Qayyumabad,” said the DIG.

Darakshan police SHO Shahid Khan said the affected family, subsequently, was taken to the Aga Khan University Hospital for further treatment. He said their condition was now stated to be “stable”.

The officer added that the family told the police that they had got fumigation carried out at their home and it was an accident, and therefore, they did not want any legal proceedings.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2024