GUJRANWALA: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif took notice on Friday of the lives claimed by the overdose of the Tyno cough syrup and instructed Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Health, Khwaja Salman Rafiq, to head to Gujranwala to monitor the situation and submit immediately a report on it, DawnNews reported.

Three people, all from Gujranwala, died of overdosing on the cough medicine on Friday bringing the death toll during the past 48 hours to 18.

Fifteen people had died of overdosing on the cough Syrup yesterday.

Hospital sources said most victims were young drug addicts and consumed the cough syrup to get intoxicated.

The arrival of new cases has highlighted the availability of the syrup in the province without prescription despite the deaths in Lahore from its consumption last month.

Earlier in November, 19 people had lost their lives due to an overdose of the 'spurious' cough syrup.

Inquiries into last month's  syrup deaths had ‘come to a grinding halt’, as the mafia responsible for these deaths had destroyed the 'spurious' cough syrup distributed under batch No 5552.