Pak clerics fall ill after consuming poisonous halwa
Nine leading Pakistani clerics, who had gathered for a meeting that declared suicide attacks as un-Islamic, fell seriously ill after eating halwa served to them, prompting police to investigate whether an attempt was made to murder them.
Nine leading Pakistani clerics, who had gathered for a meeting that declared suicide attacks as un-Islamic, fell seriously ill after eating halwa served to them, prompting police to investigate whether an attempt was made to murder them.
Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman, Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Liaquat Baloch and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam's deputy chief Abdul Khaliq are among the nine ulemas who fainted after eating the halwa at the apartment of Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haidri in the parliament lodges on .
They were admitted for emergency treatment to Federal Government Services Hospital and remained in semi-unconscious condition for almost 10 hours.
Officials said their stomachs were cleaned and the hospital's Protocol Officer Raja Ilyas described their condition as "out of danger but still critical".
Some of the clerics are still in the ICU and emergency ward as they still had digestion problems.
Ilyas said they would remain under observation till Friday evening. "Timely medical treatment helped avoid any unfortunate happening, as a minor delay could have proved lethal," he said.
Police have registered a case of attempted murder and "causing harm by means of poison".
The clerics had gathered for a conference of religious scholars that later declared suicide attacks as un-Islamic.