In a tragic incident in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, a five-year-old girl has died, and her five siblings have been hospitalized after falling seriously ill. The children are from Badhaal village in the Kotranka sub-division, where nine people from two families died from a mysterious illness last December.
Officials reported that the six children of Mohammad Aslam were taken to the community health center in Kandi for a medical check-up on Saturday evening. They were initially referred to the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital in Rajouri town. Later, four of them were moved to a hospital in Jammu, where the young girl passed away early Sunday.
Currently, two of the siblings are receiving treatment in the isolation ward at GMC Rajouri, while three others are admitted to GMC hospital in Jammu.
Last month, Dr. Ashutosh Gupta, Principal of Jammu GMC, indicated that preliminary investigations suggested a viral infection might be responsible for the mysterious deaths. However, further investigation is needed to reach a definitive conclusion.
Teams of experts from Pune’s National Institute of Virology, PGI Chandigarh, AIIMS Delhi, and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi, have visited the village to assist with the investigation.
Meanwhile, Rajouri Deputy Commissioner Abhishek Sharma, along with Rajouri-Poonch Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Tejinder Singh and Rajouri Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gaurav Sikarwar, visited Badhaal village to assess the situation. Health teams have also been deployed to conduct necessary medical check-ups for the villagers.
