Death toll from incident of consumption of toxic sweetmeats has risen to 17. Four of the victims who were under treatment in Nishtar Hospital died on Saturday.
Resident of district Kahror Lal Eisen’s Chak-105 TDA, Umar Hayat, brought sweetmeats from a local shop located at chowk-111 to celebrate birth of his grandson on Thursday.
The confectionery items turned out to be poisonous and claimed ten lives within hours while over 40 people who had consumed the items were shifted to Multan’s Nishtar Hospital and Layyah’s District Headquarters Hospital. Three-year-old Irum, Haseeb and Irfan had died in the hospital on Friday.
Four people who lost their lives on Saturday were identified as Sikandar, Bilal, Adnan and a woman named Gul.
According to medics, the death toll is expected to rise further as another two patients are in critical condition.
Police have launched an investigation in the matter.EDO Health Dr Amir Abdullah said that the shop was sealed while samples of food were taken for tests. A complaint was also lodged against the seller, he added.
