Another victim of Karachi’s DHA home fumigation dies

KARACHI: An eight-year-old girl, who was among seven members of a family that fainted after inhaling insecticide fumes sprayed at their home in Defence Housing Authority a day before, died at a private hospital on Friday, police said.

The girl, identified as Jannat, was the second child of the house owner, Dr Zia-ud-Din Shaikh, as his five-year-old son, Moin-ud-Din, was pronounced dead on arrival by doctors on Thursday, the police said.

They said that Dr Zia had the fumigation carried out at his DHA residence to eliminate mosquitoes.

However, it is still unclear whether the incident was triggered by the use of a strong insecticide, negligence of those who fumigated the house or lack of precautions by the family, according to police.

DIG-South Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that remaining family members were stable now and had been discharged from the hospital.

He said that the police approached the family to obtain details about the fumigation company, but Dr Zia sought time to talk to investigators in this regard. He said that he would probably provide details after the funerals.

The DIG said that the police came to know about the incident when the South City Hospital informed them about arrival of several unconscious members of a family from a Khayaban-i-Seher house.

He said that the house servants had told the police that Dr Zia had his house fumigated and only he knew the details.

The officer said the grief-stricken father had confirmed that he had his house fumigated which caused the tragedy. He initially told the police that he did not want to pursue “any police inquiry” because it was an “accident”, the DIG said.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2024