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Pakistan contaminated sweets kill 23 | Pakistan contaminated sweets kill 23 |
(about 2 hours later) | |
At least 23 people have died from eating contaminated sweets in central Pakistan, police say. | At least 23 people have died from eating contaminated sweets in central Pakistan, police say. |
The deaths began last week after a man in Punjab province bought the treats to celebrate the birth of his son. | The deaths began last week after a man in Punjab province bought the treats to celebrate the birth of his son. |
He and 11 other relatives are among the dead - in all 77 people were affected. Five remain in a serious condition. | He and 11 other relatives are among the dead - in all 77 people were affected. Five remain in a serious condition. |
Police have arrested two owners of a local sweetshop and one of their employees while the source of the contamination is investigated. | Police have arrested two owners of a local sweetshop and one of their employees while the source of the contamination is investigated. |
Officials suspect pesticide from a store next to the shop may accidentally have found its way into the laddoos - ball-shaped sweets popular at special occasions. | Officials suspect pesticide from a store next to the shop may accidentally have found its way into the laddoos - ball-shaped sweets popular at special occasions. |
Laboratory tests are being carried out after police reportedly found sachets of pesticide inside the sweet shop. | |
Brothers dead | |
The sweets were bought by Sajjad Hussain, a villager in Layyah district near Multan, after the birth of his son on 19 April, police spokesman Irfan Faiz told the BBC. | |
On 20 April, Mr Hussain bought 4.5kg of laddoos to celebrate. Five people died immediately, Mr Faiz said. | |
By the weekend many more lives had been claimed. Mr Hussain, one of his sisters, all of his seven brothers, two of his nieces and a nephew are among the dead. | |
Only five people now remain seriously ill in Nishtar hospital in Multan - most of the others who were being treated have recovered. | |
Police have charged the sweet shop owners under food control and poisonous substances laws. | |
"There was a pesticide shop close by which was being renovated, and the owner had left his pesticides at the bakery for safe keeping," senior police official Rameez Bukhari told AFP news agency. | |
Food safety standards are often lax in Pakistan but tainted products rarely end in more than cases of sickness, the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says. | |
There have, however, been a number of fatal incidents involving contaminated alcohol and cough medicine in recent years. | |
In neighbouring India, in 2013, more than 20 children died after consuming contaminated free school meals in Bihar state. |
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