9-year-old dies in suspected case of food poisoning

Dubai:  A nine-year-old boy with special needs died on Saturday in a suspected case of either food or pesticide poisoning, Gulf News has learnt.

His parents and 15-year-old brother were still hospitalised, but were declared by doctors to be out of danger.

The Dubai Police are still investigating the incident.

The Indian family of four was rushed to the government-run Al Baraha Hospital on Saturday morning after continuous vomiting and dizziness on Friday night. The family hails from Thrissur in the south Indian state of Kerala.

The head of the family, Firoz Khan, 46, said that they had eaten at a fast food chain, popular for fried chicken, on Friday evening.

However, his nephew who also ate with them did not fall ill.

A source at Dubai Police said that food poisoning is suspected to be the cause of death of the child, according to preliminary investigations. In such cases, the police inform the Dubai Municipality, which then sends a team, including inspectors and doctors, to check the suspected source of the poisoning.

The case is being investigated by the Muraqqabat Police station.

Sitting up on his hospital bed, Khan said that he is yet to come to terms with the death of his boy, Awad, who used to attend the Al Noor Training Centre for Children with Special Needs. "He had speech issues.

Too tired

"On Friday evening, around 6.30pm the four of us and my nephew, who was visiting us, ate in a Deira branch of a fast food chain. Late at night, all of us started vomiting continuously and feeling dizzy," said Khan, who works as a manager at a cargo firm. The family lives in the Al Muteena area in Deira. "We were all too tired to even call for help."

"By early morning Awad had slept off after vomiting, so we thought he was feeling better. In the morning, I called my office, and we were taken to the hospital in the company car.

"The rest of us managed, but he couldn't be saved," the father, said, struggling to contain his emotions.

The boy's brother, Mohammad Azim, 15, silently listened, with his faced filled with gloom, as his father recollected the harrowing experience.

"We are not entirely sure if it was the food, because my nephew was not affected. Also, we heard that our neighbours had sprayed pesticides in their apartment," Khan continued. The poisonous gas may have reached our apartment through the central air-conditioning system, he speculated.

"Municipality officials told us they found empty bottles of banned pesticides in the apartment. We are yet to get any official report," he added. Officials are yet to confirm suspicions about pesticide poisoning.

However, the victim's mother, Zeenath Firoz, 41, said that she too believes pesticides may be the cause. However, initial reports received by the police said the family got sick due to some poisoning, but a detailed report will determine whether it was case of poisoning from food or the pesticide.

Awareness

"How many deaths will have to happen before people will stop using banned pesticides," she asked.

"The neighbours moved their own children to safety before spraying these chemicals, but what about others. There were many such cases reported earlier, shouldn't they have been aware?" "Innocent people lose their lives in such incidents," she said, saying it is high time to raise the awareness on such issues. Not just that, officials should track down the source of these banned chemicals," she said.

Municipal officials could not be reached immediately to comment on the case.