In Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, the death toll from an unknown illness has risen to eight. Another child died from this mysterious disease in a hospital on Wednesday. This situation has led authorities to send a central team of experts to help investigate the cases and deaths in the affected village.
A special mobile lab, known as a Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) lab, has been sent to Rajouri to speed up testing and find out what the illness is.
Twelve-year-old Ashfaq Ahmed, son of Mohammad Rafiq, passed away after being in the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu for six days. He was earlier taken to Chandigarh for treatment but did not survive.
Ashfaq’s younger siblings, seven-year-old Ishtiyaq and five-year-old Nazia, also died last Thursday.
With Ashfaq’s death, the total number of deaths in Badhaal village, Kotranka tehsil, has reached eight. All those who died were from two families in the same village.
Deputy Commissioner Abhishek Sharma visited Kotranka on Monday to see the situation in Badhaal village, where seven people, including six children under 14, have died from the unidentified illness.
To respond to this crisis, a BSL-3 mobile lab has been sent to Rajouri, and a central team of experts has been formed to help the local administration investigate the cases and deaths.
