The Public Prosecution office in Minya, Upper Egypt, has chosen to summon the mother of the six children in Minya who died of a mysterious poisoning and their stepmother for questioning – the fifth time since the investigation began.
This followed the forensic reports on the deaths of the husband and six of his children.
The preliminary forensic report on three children whose bodies were recently autopsied, revealed traces of chlorfenapyr, an insecticide used to eliminate resistant pests and characterized by its high mortality rate.
The former chief forensic doctor Ayman Fouda noted that chlorfenapyr is a newer pesticide that is not widely used in Egypt.
Fouda attributed its failure to appear in the tests of the victims upon their admission to the hospital to the lack of appropriate equipment in hospital poison centers, adding, “The only equipment that detects these substances is an atomic spectrometer.”
Poisoning with this substance causes symptoms similar to those seen in the victims including vomiting, impaired consciousness, and constricted pupils, he explained, and can lead to death if not treated immediately.
Fouda noted that chlorfenapyr is a new pesticide that is not widely used in Egypt.
The father’s medical reports from Assiut University Hospital indicated that he suffered from fever, damage to nerve cells in the brain, severe deterioration of the kidneys, liver, and pancreas, and cardiomyopathy.
The Public Prosecution has commissioned a three-member forensic committee to write a detailed report on the autopsies of the seven bodies involved in the incident, detailing the similarities between the contamination and their symptoms, the progression of the contamination and the symptoms until death.
The uncle of the children, Ali Mohamed, discussed the family’s situation, stating: “The father married his first wife from Beni Suef, and severe disagreements arose between them. They divorced five years ago. He then married his second wife, but he took the first wife back several months ago. Life at home has been stable.”
Police detectives at Minya Security Directorate confirmed that the last meal consumed by the children and their father was okra, meat, rice, and bread.
It was not possible to examine the kitchen utensils or food leftovers because the children were not admitted to the hospital until three days after their sickness.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
