Death toll in the city’s poisonous sweet case reached to 27 when another woman breathed her last in hospital.
The woman, identified as Nusrat, along with five other people, was shifted to Jinnah hospital where she died this morning during treatment.
A 58-year-old grandfather, Umar Hayat, who is disabled, has lost all eight sons among 12 members of his family, including daughters and grandchildren within three days last week after they ate sweets carrying toxic.
Ironically, most of the people who reportedly consumed poisonous sweets died because of non-availability of stomach washing facility in Layyah’s hospital.
Meanwhile, doctors have declared condition of all the patients as `critical because of shortage of antidote to the pesticide that was reportedly mixed with the confectionaries consumed by the people.
Commenting over reports that antidotes were not available in the government health facilities of Layyah, concerned citizens sarcastically remarked: “On the one hand, our PM Nawaz Sharif in his public speeches off and on proudly mention about motorways, bridges, underpasses, etc. and, on the other, government hospitals where the victims of poisonous sweet were shifted for treatment didn’t have the stomach washing facilities.
“Isn’t it amazing that Punjab Food Authority’s (PFA) director Ayesha Mumtaz often carryout raids on restaurants and eateries selling sub-standard and unhygienic food items in Lahore as if the city is entire Punjab,” they added.
An investigation into the tragic incident is currently under way by a 10-member team sent to Layyah by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. The team is led by PFA director Ayesha Mumtaz.
Source: Medical News Pakistan
