Seventeen of the 38 affected persons, including 13 children, have died since December 7
While the number deaths in the Budhal village of Rajouri on Sunday increased to 17 with the death of another minor girl, the cause of the deaths remained a mystery.
Yasmeen, 15, who was brought here on 12 January for treatment and was put on ventilator later, died at 6.10 pm, said doctors. Her body will be handed over to the parents after her postmortem.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah yesterday ordered the constitution of an Inter-ministerial team led by the Ministry of Home Affairs to visit the affected village to ascertain the causes of deaths in three incidents in the past six weeks in Jammu’s Rajouri district.
The team will comprise experts from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Ministry of Water Resources. It will also be assisted by experts from animal husbandry, food safety and forensic science labs.
Seventeen of the 38 affected persons, including 13 children, have died since 7 December. The victims belonged to three families.
