Botched Pest Control Claims Lives of Two Children, Parents Hospitalised In Chennai

Two personnel from the company reportedly placed powdered rat poison in the apartment at Kundrathur in Chennai on Tuesday.

It was also found that there was no ventilation in the room. 

Source : Pixabay

A pest control mishap in Chennai's Kundrathur neighborhood led to the death of two children and left their parents in critical condition battling for their life on Thursday. The Kundrathur police have arrested one person, identified as Dinakaran, and are searching for two others linked to a T. Nagar-based pest control company responsible for the incident.

The victims, Giridharan, his wife Pavithra, and their children—six-year-old Vaishnavi and one-year-old Sai Sudarshan—were residing in their apartment in Kundrathur. Their apartment reportedly had rodent menace due to which they had sought for pest control services.  

On Wednesday, the family reportedly fell unconscious in their apartment in the morning, as per a report on India Today. Neighbours found the family in distress and rushed them to a private hospital. However, despite the efforts, the two children succumbed to the effects of inhaling toxic rat poison.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Giridharan had engaged the pest control company to address a rodent problem in their home. Two personnel from the company reportedly placed powdered rat poison in the apartment on Tuesday. During the night, the poison, circulated by the air conditioning in the closed room, poisoned the family as they slept, reported The Hindu.

It was also found that there was no ventilation in the room. 

The Tambaram Police Commissionerate stated that excessive use of the toxic substance was the likely cause of the fatal incident. The bodies of the deceased children were sent to Government Chromepet Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

The police have registered a case against the pest control company, citing negligence, and further investigations are ongoing.

The incident underscored the need for stringent oversight of pest control services and safer practices in handling toxic substances.