SIALKOT, April 18: Twelve members of a family, seven of them women, fell unconscious after eating ‘poisonous’ chicken dish at far-off Khanour-Sabzpeer village in Pasrur on Tuesday.

Panicked by the situation, their relatives and acquaintances were immediately led to believe that it was in all probability the dreaded bird flu case. And the rumour spread far and wide.

According to reports reaching here, the family members ate a chicken dish at their home and soon felt nausea and tried to disgorge whatever they had consumed. Within a few minutes, they fell unconscious and villagers shifted them to the Sialkot District Headquarters Hospital.

The condition of all family members, including Nazeeran Bibi, Ambreen, Naureen, Samreen, Nighat, two namesake (Rasheeda Bibi), Arsalan, Irfan, Kamran and Muhammad Sadique, was stated to be critical.

Some relatives confirmed that they fell unconscious soon after eating chicken, but the doctors did not give any word on the bird flu possibility. They said it was a food poisoning case.

DHQ hospital medical superintendent Zafar Iqbal Niazi told journalists that there was no possibility of bird flu.

The Sialkot EDO (health) said the samples of the food consumed by the family had been sent to a Lahore chemical laboratory for examination.

DEATH SENTENCE: Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Boota has awarded death sentence with a fine of Rs100,000 to a convict, Muhammad Faazil, in a double murder case. The judge also awarded life imprisonment with a fine of Rs100,000 to anther convict, Rab Nawaz, in this case.