Jammu, Jan 19: The death toll in Badhal, Rajouri, climbed to 17 on sunday as 15-year-old child succumbed to an unexplained illness.
An official told JKNS that the one more child of Muhammad Aslam succumbed to Ilness at SMGS Hospital Jammu.
The deceased, identified as 15-year-old Yasmeen Akther D/o Mohd Aslam, succumbed to ilness, the official said.
Yasmeen Akhtar was the sixth and the last surviving kid of Muhammad Aslam, who also now succumbed to illness.
Authorities are continuing their efforts to address the situation and assist the affected families.
The first death was reported on 7th December after a family of six fell ill following attendance at a function.
Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha while talking to reporters said, “Union Home Minister Amit Shah constituted a committee of experts yesterday and the said team has arrived to know the reasons behind the deaths.”
Yesterday, Home Minister Amit Shah has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Team to investigate the deaths in Jammu’s Rajouri district.
The team led by the Ministry of Home Affairs will be visiting the affected village to ascertain the causes of deaths in 3 incidents in the past six weeks in Jammu’s Rajouri district.
The team is consisting of experts from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Ministry of Water Resources. It is also being assisted by experts from animal husbandry, food safety and forensic science labs.
The team proceed will proceed in collaboration with the local administration working on providing immediate relief as well as taking precautionary measures to prevent such incidents in future.
Experts from some of the most reputed institutions of the country have been arranged to manage the situation and understand the causative factors of deaths, the Home Ministry communique reads.
Earlier, Police have constituted a Special investigation Team and are working closely with health and other concerned departments.
It is important to mention that, 17 people have died in the past 45 days, while the reason for deaths still remains unclear.
