Laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of a poisonous substance in a sample collected from one of five children who died following a suspected poisoning incident in Khyber district, officials said on Thursday, in a development that has taken the investigation in a new direction.
The incident occurred in Qaziano Kalay, in the Bazaar Zakha Khel area of Landi Kotal tehsil, where seven children belonging to the same family suddenly fell unconscious after developing severe symptoms. Five of them — three girls and two boys, all under the age of five — died on the way to hospital. The two surviving children were taken to Hayatabad Medical Complex in Peshawar, where they are receiving treatment.
The children, from the family of Shah Ji Gul, first fell ill between November 7 and 10. They developed high fever, convulsions and unconsciousness, along with weakness and watery discharge from their mouths and noses, before their condition deteriorated rapidly. Local residents said the suddenness of the illness caused fear and panic in the area.
Medical teams sent blood, urine and other samples to the laboratory at Khyber Medical College in Peshawar for examination. On Thursday, District Health Officer Dr Rafiq Hayat confirmed that the laboratory report had been received and that it revealed evidence of poisoning in a sample from one affected child, identified as Hania.
Deputy Commissioner Khyber Shahid Ali said all seven children belonged to the same family and had fallen unconscious in the Zakha Khel area. He said a special team of the district administration had immediately shifted the affected children to Peshawar, where they were provided with medical care.
The reports now sit with the Khyber District Police Officer for further investigation and possible legal action. Officials have not yet established how the substance entered the child's system, and the exact nature and source of the toxic material have yet to be determined. Authorities are now examining the possibility of poisoning or food contamination as the cause of the tragedy.
The Health Department has recommended additional investigations, including toxicological screening, blood culture and a CT scan of the brain, to establish the exact cause of the illness. Initial medical tests, including serum calcium, serum magnesium and haemoglobin levels, had returned normal results, which made the laboratory finding all the more significant.
The deaths have shaken the remote tribal district, where families often rely on a single hospital many miles away. The two surviving children remain under close medical observation, and doctors say further test results are expected before the full picture becomes clear.
Police have not yet said whether they suspect foul play or an accidental poisoning, and no arrests have been reported. What the laboratory result has done is narrow the question: this was not, on the evidence so far, an ordinary illness. Until toxicology establishes what the substance was and how it got into the children's bodies, the families of Qaziano Kalay are left waiting for answers about how five young lives were lost in a matter of days.
