Badhaal tragedy: Mysterious illness claims one more life; death toll rose to 14

Fourth children of Mohd Aslam succumbed to a mysterious disease on Tuesday
Reason behind deaths not clear yet, more tests to be conducted: Health Minister
Police started a fresh investigation from every angleShyam Sood
Rajouri, January 14: In a heart-wrenching incident, the fourth child of Mohd Aslam, a resident of Badhaal died in SMGS hospital in Jammu due to a mysterious illness.
Sixty-two- years-old maternal uncle of Mohd Yousuf also became a victim of this mysterious disease and died on Monday in Associated Hospital GMC (AH GMC) Rajouri.
Mohd Yousuf had adopted Mohd Aslam because Yousuf had no children.
Pall of gloom descended on Badhaal on Tuesday (January 14) when a large number of people of the area reached Badhaal to attend the last rites of four members of a family. Since December 7, it is the 14th death in three families, including 11 minor children, in a remote Badhaal village in Koteranka subdivision of Rajouri district. On December 7, Fazal Hussain (35) and his four children namely Robia
(14 yrs), Farhana (9), Rafter (5) and Rukhsar (11) fell seriously ill & all died due to mysterious illness within 3 days.
On December 12, three children of Mohd Rafiq- namely Ishtiaq Ahmed (9), Ishfaq Ahmed (10) and Nazia Akhter (6yrs)- also fell seriously ill and died within 7 days again due to mysterious illness.
On December 23, the 5-month-old pregnant mother of these children Razeem Akhter (35) also died at AHGMC Rajouri.
Once again on January 12, six children of Mohd Aslam (brother-in-law of Fazal Hussain) after having a meal with in the house of Mohd Aslam’s father fell seriously ill with symptoms of fever, sweating, vomiting, altered sensorium along with dehydration and were Shifted to AH GMC Rajouri.
From AHGMC Rajouri, doctors referred all the children to SMGS hospital (children hospital) in Jammu for further management.
However, to date four children-namely Zahoor Ahmed (14), Naveena Kousar (8), Mohd Maroof (10), and Safina Kousar (6) died in SMGS hospital while the condition of another daughter is critical.
Following deaths of 7 children and Fazal Hussain in the month of December, on the directions of Directorate of Health Services Government of India New Delhi, a team of experts from different premier medical institutions, including a team from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) along with Mobile Laboratory Vehicle rushed to Badhaal (Koteranka) to investigate the cases and reason behind mysterious deaths. Deaths.
Doctors at GMC Rajouri, GMC Jammu, SMGS hospital Jammu and experts from premier institutions from across the country have tested/examined samples of the affected patients, their family members and people of the area, but failed to identify the cause of deaths.
“For the last more than 30 days health authorities have been waiting for postmortem reports of the deceased from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). The delay of reports hampering further investigation, measures to be taken to stop more deaths” said a senior health officer.
He also informed that another team of experts from premier health institutions from across the country, including from NCDC, ICMR, has been rushed to J&K for further investigation into the mysterious deaths, which according to experts and initial reports of samples collected are not caused due to viral or bacterial infection.
Panic and fear have gripped the entire area around Badhaal after 14 deaths and the government is still clueless about the reason behind these deaths.
Meanwhile while talking to reporters in Srinagar Health Minister Sakeena Itoo said: “The reason behind deaths is not clear yet. Different tests done in all the cases (deaths) came negative and nothing was found in them about the deaths. More tests will be conducted to find the reasons,”.
Deputy Commissioner Rajouri, Abhishek Sharma on Tuesday visited Kotranka to review the prevailing situation following 14 deaths in Badhaal village.
He also visited Badhaal and interacted with the affected families.
He took stock of the samples of food, water and other consumable items collected after recent deaths and directed concerned departments to expedite examination/analysis and implement necessary measures to prevent such occurrences.