Rajouri/Jammu: The number of deaths from an unknown illness in Rajouri district has risen to eight after another youth died in a hospital here on Wednesday,
Authorities have constituted a team of experts to assist the doctors in investigating the cases and fatalities in the affected village.
A Biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) mobile laboratory has been dispatched to Rajouri to expedite testing and unravel the mystry, officials said.
Twelve-year-old Ashfaq Ahmed, son of Mohammad Rafiq, passed away after being hospitalised at the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu for six days, officials said.
He was earlier referred to Chandigarh for treatment but could not survive, officials said.
Ashfaq’s younger siblings—seven-year-old Ishtiyaq and five-year-old Nazia—died last Thursday.
With the death of Ashfaq, the number of fatalities in Badhaal village of Kotranka tehsil has reached eight. All the deceased belonged to two families from the same village.