Police arrest factory owner over 18 deaths in Keamari

Police arrested a factory owner on Sunday on the charges of manslaughter and negligence following 18 mysterious deaths of people, including 16 children, who had died due to toxic fumes over the past several weeks in Karachi’s Keamari locality.

FIR No. 33/23 was registered at the Mochko police station under sections 322 and 284/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of labourer Khadim Hussain, who lost four family members while living in Ali Muhammad Goth, located on Suparco Road near Mawach Goth.

Section 322 deals with punishment for Qatl-bis-sabab, Section 284 deals with negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substance, and Section 34 deals with acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention.

The complainant told the police in his statement that he is a resident of a Katchi Abadi in Ali Muhammad Goth. He said that several recycling factories are operating near his locality without taking any precautionary measures and emitting mysterious toxic gases that have taken several innocent lives.

SHO Chaudhry Shahid told The News that the FIR has been registered against three factory owners: Khair Muhammad, alias Sher Ali, Shahid Hussain and Saeed Khan. He said that some unidentified factory owners have also been accused in the FIR.

The officer said that one of the owners of a plastic recycling factory, namely Khair Muhammad, has been arrested, while efforts are under way to arrest the other factory owners. Eighteen people, majority of them children, have died in Ali Muhammad Goth and Mawach Goth between January 10 and January 25 after inhaling mysterious toxic gases emitting from the factories operating in the residential areas.

On Saturday a detailed investigation report by the office of Sindh’s director general health said that measles outbreak could be one of the probable causes of deaths in the area, but a final verdict could only be given after confirmation from the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, where blood samples had been sent for analysis.