A seven-member probe panel has been formed to look into the incident where a nine-year-old girl died and 18 people, including seven members of a family, fell sick after consuming watermelon at Kalua village in Kushtia’s Kumarkhali upazila.
The district civil surgeon’s office formed the probe panel yesterday with Sadar Health and Family Planning Officer Dr Abdul Halim as its chief. The committee has been asked to submit its report within three days.
Meanwhile, a six-member medical team from the capital arrived in the district on Sunday night to find out the reason behind the incident.
The team members are Dr M Waliur Rahman and Dr Quazi M Zakir, Abdur Rouf, and Jasimuddin Ahmed of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control & Research (IEDCR) at Mohakhali. Two other members are Forhad Hossain Akond and Rajib Ahmed of the ICDDRB.
Kushtia Civil Surgeon Dr Mostafizur Rahman said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) formed a medical board giving priority on the matter and sent the six-member team to the district to investigate it.
The team yesterday visited Kushtia General Hospital and talked to the people who fell sick. However, the team declined to comment on what actually caused the incident.
Smriti, 9, daughter of Askar Ali of Kalua village, died and 18 others fell ill after eating the summer fruit on Saturday.
Askar Ali, who works at a garment factory in the capital, brought the watermelon from Kumarkhali.
Police detained the watermelon seller in connection with the incident and seized 19 of the summer fruits from his shop.