Keamari deaths: FIA summons clearing agents on March 02

KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has launched a probe into 14 deaths due to alleged exposure to soybean dust in Keamari area of Karachi in mid of February, ARY News reported on Saturday.

The authorities are investigating if exposure to soybean dust, which can cause severe allergic reactions, is responsible for at least 14 deaths and several dozens of patients complaining breathing problem in the port area of Karachi amid offloading of a consignment of soybean cargo from a ship.

More than 300 people were hospitalized or treated for breathing problems in the city.

The FIA has summoned the clearing and forwarding agents on March 02 for its inquiry into the incident.

The FIA Corporate Crime Circle had sought answers of its questions and called the clearing agents to appear before it with all relevant documents on the date.

The mystery surrounding the deaths of 14 people was earlier dubbed the leakage of toxic gas in the port area.

The University of Karachi’s International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) in a report later pointed to “overexposure” to “soybean dust” as the probable cause of the incident.

“Currently we are extensively engaged in deciphering the cause of this toxic exposure. While we are working on this complex bioanalytical problem, we think this may be due to over exposure to soybean dust,” the ICCBS explained.

It further advised extreme care should be taken in unloading of soybean containers.

“Soybean dust exposure related epidemics have been reported earlier from other parts of the world with associated morbidity and mortality,” it said.