SUNDAY TIMES KARACHI:According to police, minors consumed substandard food at a restaurant located in Karachi’s Saddar area and died of food poisoning, while their mother Beena, 28, is critically ill and being treated at a private hospital.

The deceased included 1.5-year old Abdul Ali, four-year old Aziz Faisal, six-year old Aliya, seven-year old Tauheed and nine-year old Salvi.

The victim family belongs to Quetta, police added.

As per initial investigations, Superintendent Police Gulshan Tahir Noorani said the cause of children’s death appears to be food poisoning. Further investigation is under way, he added.

The police has sealed the suspected restaurant and carrying out the investigation.

The incident occurred after few months of another food poisoning case that killed two minors in the port city. Two brothers named Ahmad, one-and-a-half-year-old, and Muhammad, five-year-old, consumed unhygienic food from an eatery situated in Karachi’s area of Defence, resulting in their death owing to food poisoning in November last year.