Pakistani Authorities, On Wednesday said investigation showed that dust from soybeans was behind more than a dozen deaths in the port city of Karachi, local official said.
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Local Official, Hassan Sajid, said at least 14 people had so far died and more than 200 hospitalised since Sunday, after the toxic gas engulfed the Kemari Town area near the port.
The cause of the leak remained a mystery until Tuesday, causing speculation of damage to a nuclear power reactor in the city that triggered panic.
Several dozen families fled the area.
Pakistan’s International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences, however, identified soybean dust as a possible cause.
A Nuclear scientist, Atta Rahman told Geo television that initial findings showed that soybean dust was the cause of deaths, adding that the country needed more concrete evidence.
Maritime Minister, Ali Zaidi, said that the soybean imported from the U.S. was being offloaded from a ship docked at the port.
“The ship has now been removed from the terminal.
“Offloading was put to a halt on Tuesday due to panic in the region,” Zaidi said.
According to Doctor Seemin Jamali, at the city’s Jinnah Hospital, where most of the ill people were taken to, soybean dust can trigger severe allergic reaction and can be deadly for people with lungs infection.
However, Rahman said that although the ship had been removed from the terminal, the impact of the dust would take at least four days to vanish.
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