Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh) [India], October 7 (ANI): The death toll in the Chhindwara cough syrup case rose to 16 after a fresh casualty was reported on Tuesday afternoon, a senior district official said.

With this, the death toll due to the alleged consumption of Coldrif cough syrup has increased to 19 in the state, as two deaths were also reported in the Betul district and one in the Pandhurna district.

A two-year-old girl, a resident of Junnardeo in Chhindwara, died while undergoing treatment at Government Medical College in Nagpur. She was admitted there for over a week, he added.

'So far 16 children have died in the cough syrup case in Chhindwara. One more girl child (2 years old) died this afternoon at around 12:30 pm, resulting in the death toll rising to 16. The girl was admitted at Government Medical College, Nagpur for more than seven days. Currently, there are five children undergoing treatment at GMC Nagpur and all of them are critical,' said Dhirendra Singh, Additional District Magistrate (ADM).

The ADM further said that a team consisting of three doctors and three executive magistrates from Chhindwara is in Nagpur at different hospitals, and they are monitoring the treatment of the children, being in constant touch with the hospital management.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that the state government would cover the entire expense of the children undergoing treatment in Nagpur affected by kidney infection caused by cough syrup and a joint team of executive magistrate and doctors were also deployed in Nagpur for health monitoring.

'Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has directed that the state government would bear the entire cost of treatment for nine children suffering from kidney infections caused by cough syrup, who are being treated in various hospitals in Nagpur. A joint team of executive magistrates and doctors has been deployed in Nagpur to ensure proper medical arrangements and continuous monitoring of the affected children,' the CMO posted on X.

The team is maintaining constant coordination with the families of the affected children and hospital management to ensure all necessary arrangements for the children's treatment, the CMO added in the post. (ANI)