LAHORE, July 18: The chemical examination laboratories here have failed to identify the cause of death of 18 years old Shahzad, the fifth member of his family to die under mysterious circumstances at a Dharampura suburb last week.

Apart from supernatural theories, it was widely believed by a majority of the educated public that some sort of poisoning, deliberate or accidental, was behind the ‘mystery’ deaths that occurred in a span of three months.

Muddasar Hussain, an associate professor of Forensic Medicines Department, told APP on Thursday that the report received from the Chief Chemical Examiner on Thursday found no trace of poisoning. There were, however, traces of some damage to the liver, kidney and lungs.

He said the deaths had posed a challenge to medical science, the police and the local administration.

Hussain suggested certain measures to prevent further deaths in the family, and to diagnose the cause of the mysterious deaths.

He said the Community Health Department could play a significant role by undertaking an immediate environmental survey.

Samples of water, soil and air taken from the area should be examined. The entire family should be kept in a quarantine for incubation period and strict surveillance should be maintained so that the conditions leading to the unexplained deaths could be identified and ascertained.

Prof Muddassar Hussain contended that a basic mistake was committed when the vomit from Shahzad in the emergency ward of the Shalamar Hospital was not chemically examined.

He said if a proper system existed for observation of such cases, the vomit could even have been prevented, which could have helped in a more effective chemical analysis of the stomach contents, and in determining the exact cause of death. “Exhuming Shahzad’s body at this point for carrying out further examination will not be helpful, because there was no trace of metallic poison, as reported by the chief chemical examiner”, he said.—APP