Kasur family dies after eating kheer; death toll disputed

At least four members of one family have died in Kanganpur in Punjab's Kasur district after eating contaminated kheer, and reports differ on whether a fifth member, the mother, has also died.

ARY News reported on Thursday that five of the family died: three brothers, their father and their mother. ProPakistani reported four deaths, those of the three brothers and their father, and said the mother, named Hasna Bibi, was in critical condition when it filed its report.

The dead were named as Asif Ali, 28, Nazim Ali, 25, Amanat Ali, 15, and their father Qasim Ali, 40. ARY News gave the mother's name as Hasina Bibi. ProPakistani named the village as Khaneke Perike, near Kanganpur in Chunian tehsil.

Both outlets reported that a lizard is suspected of having fallen into the kheer. According to ARY News, the family prepared the rice pudding at home and the father spotted the lizard and removed it before the family ate. ProPakistani, citing initial reports, carried the same suspicion. Neither outlet reported official confirmation of the cause, and police said an investigation was under way.

Rescue officials told ARY News that emergency teams were sent after reports that the family had developed severe abdominal pain and vomiting, and that the affected were given first aid before being shifted to hospitals in Lahore. Nazim Ali died first, while being treated at Lahore General Hospital, according to ProPakistani, and the other deaths followed.

ARY News reported that news of the deaths plunged the area into mourning, with residents expressing grief over the loss of members of a single family.

Punjab Minister for Law Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan took notice of the incident and sought a report from the Kasur deputy commissioner, directing the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation, establish the facts and determine the cause of the deaths, ARY News reported.

Police said further inquiries were under way. Neither outlet reported the outcome of any post-mortem examination, and no official has publicly confirmed how the kheer was contaminated.