Health experts say soybean dust did not cause Karachi deaths

Pulmonologists, ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists, and emergency medicine experts who visited the Keamari victims who suffered from breathing complications, rejected claims that the patients were exposed to soybean dust which caused them to be affected by it, a private news channel reported on Thursday.

A report prepared by a department of chemists in Karachi University stated in a report, forwarded to the Karachi Commissioner, that more than 10 people had died and 300 had been affected by aeroallergens from soybean dust. The Sindh Health Department stated the same in a health department.

The medical experts who went to see patients said it appeared that a poisonous gas had damage the respiratory system of the people as they had suffered from convulsions and that a majority of patients were facing extreme difficulty in breathing and some of them were unconscious and were put on life support.

“Pulmonary Edema or fluid buildup in the lungs, bronchospasm or suffocation, are the typical symptoms of exposure to some choking agents. Many lethal, toxic gasses can cause these symptoms and overexposure to such agents can lead to sudden death”, said JPMC’s Deputy Director Dr. Yahya Tunio.