Karachi: Five of a family found dead; gas poisoning suspected

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KARACHI: Five members of a family were found dead inside their house in Baldia Town here on Monday. The police claimed the family apparently died of gas poisoning after the electricity generator was left running throughout the night. But doctors at the Civil hospital suspected deliberate poisoning as the victims were all foaming at the mouth.

The Saeedabad police were informed about the incident by the family’s neighbours and had to break through the door to enter the house.

“The family probably died of suffocation as when the policemen went inside, they could not stand there because of the accumulation of natural gas,” SSP West Irfan Baloch told Geo News.

The neighbours had heard the generator running despite the restoration of electricity in the area. They tried to inform the family to switch off the generator but no one responded to their calls.

Abrar Ahmed, 40, his wife Uzma Abrar, 35, and their sons 12-year-old Raza Junaid, nine-year-old Hamza Junaid and eight-year-old Samad Junaid were found dead in the two-room house in Sector 8-E, Baldia Town.

The bodies were shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) for medico-legal formalities.Police claimed Abrar was the second husband of Uzma, who had her three sons from the first marriage. The family hailed from Kashmir.

Abrar used to switch occupations and was currently jobless. He had kept a “large natural-gas powered generator at his house and had been providing electricity to several houses in the neighbourhood. He also charged money for the electricity.

“The deaths appear to be from suffocation but directives have been issued to send stomach samples for chemical examination to see if the family was poisoned,” Baloch said.

Saeedabad DSP Zahoor Ahmed said the investigation was under way but owing to the start of the polio vaccination drive in Baldia Town, police were busy in providing security to the vaccinators.

Dr Rajinder Kumar, a medico-legal officer at CHK, said the postmortem examination of the victims was being done to ascertain actual cause of death. “It appears to be a case of poisoning as the victims were frothing at the mouth.”

Fluids and semi-digested food from the bodies had been sent for chemical examination to determine if they were poisoned, he said.

“The family did not die of suffocation.”Kumar also denied some media reports that the victims were bore tortured. “There were no torture marks on any of the bodies.”(GNN)(Geo)