Pakistani police reported Sunday the arrest of a businessman who owns a factory on a charge of negligent homicide for the deaths of 18 people, 16 of them children, from toxic gas inhalation in the city of Karachi. Three other owners are wanted.
In the last two weeks 18 deaths had been counted due to the inhalation of fumes from the factory in the neighborhoods of Ali Muhammad Goth and Mowach Goth, according to the Pakistani newspaper ‘Down’.
A police spokesman explained that the arrests follow a complaint from a citizen who has lost four members of his family in Ali Mohammed Goth.
The charge sheet includes a charge of manslaughter and a charge of negligent conduct with poisonous substances under the Penal Code.
The complainant points out that several recycling plants have recently been installed in the area without any safety measures having been taken to contain the toxic gases that killed his three children – aged 18, 4 and 1 year – and his wife.
The complaint states that other children have died as a result of these fumes, but were buried without any legal procedure or informing the police.
Meanwhile, the authorities point to a possible measles outbreak as the cause of the deaths, but have asked not to draw conclusions until the relevant blood tests are completed.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
