SUKKUR, April 21: At least 12 children have died of measles and over 400 other are reported to be suffering from the disease whose outbreak has been reported in Pir Jo Goth and its adjoining villages.

Sources said that due to the spread of measles, 12 children died in Mour Khan Jhabbar, Khan Mohammad Mohal, Rahim Dad, Ghulam Mustafa Jagirani and other villages, while another 400 children had been affected.

Those who died have been identified as Zubair, 2, Samar, 3, Tania, 2, Imam Zadi, 4, Aslam, Kariman, Naeema, Salma, Latifan, Rasheed, Shama, and Saeen Dad. The children, affected by the disease, also belong to these villages.

Talking to newsmen, the villagers, including, Muhib Mohil and Ghulam Qadir said that despite death of the children in different villages, the health authorities have not taken any action to control the spread of the disease.

When contacted, Khairpur EDO (health) Dr Shahabuddin Shaikh avoided to confirm the spread of measles among children and said that not a single child had died of the disease.

The deaths could be the result of some other disease, he added.

However, he said that a team of doctors, led by the Dr Bashir Ahmed Jumani, had been sent to the villages to revaccinate the children.