Two Children Die, Three Hospitalised After Inhaling Pesticide Fume In Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain

Two young girls died while three other children were hospitalised after allegedly inhaling toxic fumes from pesticide-treated wheat stored inside a house in Ujjain, officials said.

The incident occurred in the Triveni Hills area on Indore Road, leaving the family devastated.

According to officials, the children had come to their maternal home for the summer holidays. Pooja, daughter of a brick kiln operator Lalchand Prajapati, had arrived from Shajapur with her five-year-old daughter Jenisha and her one-and-a-half-month-old infant Trisha.

Her sister Reena was also visiting with her three-and-a-half-month-old son Rehan and four-year-old daughter Annu (Anika). Their brother Nitesh’s three-year-old daughter Yeshu was also present in the house.

On Monday

night, the children and their mothers slept in a rear room where around four quintals of wheat had been stored, officials said. The grain had been treated with chemical pesticides, and the room reportedly had little or no ventilation.

By Tuesday morning, the children began showing signs of distress. Trisha, the youngest, was found foaming at the mouth, following which all the children were rushed to a private hospital, they said.

Trisha died later in the evening, while Anika succumbed to the effects of poisoning on Wednesday morning, officials said.

Jenisha remains in a critical condition and has been referred to a hospital in Indore. Rehan and Yeshu are undergoing treatment in Ujjain and are under close medical supervision, they added.

Preliminary investigation suggests that fumes released from pesticides used to preserve the wheat accumulated in the sealed room overnight, leading to suffocation-like conditions, officials said.