�TOXIC� LITCHI
6 panels formed to probe Dinajpur children�s death
UNB
Dinajpur: The district administration has formed six probe committees to investigate the death of eight children at Dinajpur Medical College Hospital in the last three weeks after eating litchi, reports UNB.
The committees, headed by Dinajpur deputy commissioner Ahmed Shamim Al Razi, were formed on Thursday after the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) found that pesticides in litchi caused the death of the eight children, additional deputy commissioner Abu Raihan Miah said.
Upazila nirbahi officers, upazila health officers and officer-in-charges of different police stations were also included in the committees, Abu Raihan Miah said.
The committees were asked to submit their reports by seven working days, he added.
A total of 12 children from different places of the district were admitted to the hospitals paediatrics unit with severe convulsion and fever in between May 29 and June 18.
Eleven of the children died at the hospital within two to 48 hours after their admission.
Of the 11 victims, three were from Dinajpur Sadar upazila, four from Birganj and one each from Parbatipur, Birol, Kaharol and Chirirbandar upazilas.
After the incident, a four-member team of IEDCR visited different areas of Dinajpur to investigate the reason behind the death and it finally submitted a report citing that eight of the 11 victims died due to eating contaminated litchi.
