Soybean dust caused Karachi deaths: Dr Atta-ur-Rehman

Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Ali Zaidi, has categorically rejected the report pointed to “overexposure” to “soybean dust” as the probable cause of deaths of over a dozen people in Karachi’s port areas.

KARACHI: Dr Atta-ur-Rehman on Tuesday said that he is 90 per cent certain that soybean dust caused deaths in Karachi.

Talking in Dunya News program “Dunya Kamran Khan Kay Sath”, he said that such incidents have also occurred in other countries of the world. There were 20 deaths in Spain during 1981-1987 and similar incidents occurred in Italy, US, and France, he added.

He added that soybean was a common factor in such fatalities as pollen-like dust in soybean causes allergy, which can cause problems for large number of problems.

Dr Atta-ur-Rehman said that soybeans affect people suffering from respiratory diseases as allergic reactions were present in the samples of the victims. He added that he is 90% certain that soybean dust caused deaths instead of Hydrogen Sulphide, which can be recognized through its smell.

He said that there is an international method of removing soybean from containers. Soybeans are extracted from the ship by inserting a tube in it after completely covering the ship and workers need to wear masks and special cloths, he added.

Dr Atta said that everyone is genetically different, so chemical effect is also different. Soybean dust affects those who are allergic to its compounds. People admitted in hospitals should be treated with anti-allergy medicines, he advised.

Answering a question, he said that beside soybean, there are 10 other compounds that require special care during transportation and list of such items is available internationally. He warned that matters related to chemical compounds are also linked national security.

Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Ali Zaidi, has categorically rejected the report pointed to “overexposure” to “soybean dust” as the probable cause of deaths of over a dozen people in Karachi’s port areas.

Ali Zaidi said he will not accept the report which indicated the overspread to soybean from a cargo ship. He detailed that it is the fourteenth ship which carried soybean to Karachi port while the off-loading process had not been initiated when the first person affected by the mysterious gas spread was taken to the hospital.

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