Kasur's district police officer has said that the initial investigation into the deaths of five members of the same family after they ate homemade kheer indicates an accidental incident, with forensic test results still awaited.

DPO Aftab Ahmad Phularwan told BBC Urdu that police had collected samples of the kheer and material from the bodies and sent them to the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory for examination. The cause of death has not yet been established.

The tragedy unfolded in Mahmood Khanike village near Kanganpur in Chunian tehsil, Kasur district. Five members of one family, both parents and their three adult sons, died after reportedly consuming the rice pudding dessert.

According to initial reports, the deaths occurred over three consecutive days. One of the sons died on the first day, while the following day his father and two other sons died. The mother later died, becoming the fifth victim of the suspected food poisoning incident.

Family members reportedly developed severe symptoms after eating the dessert and later died during treatment. Thousands of people attended the funeral prayers of the five deceased family members, who were laid to rest amid emotional scenes.

Initial local accounts suggested that a lizard may have fallen into the kheer before it was served. However, the suspected contamination has not been established as the cause of death, and police have not confirmed how the food became poisonous.

Early reporting of the tragedy described three brothers dying after eating the suspected poisonous kheer, and the reported death toll then rose to four and later to five as the remaining family members died in hospital over the following days. The staggered toll, with deaths spread across three days, deepened the mystery around the incident and fuelled speculation in the area about what had poisoned the food.

The question of whether the deaths were the result of an accident or something deliberate has been the subject of intense local discussion. The police chief's statement that the early investigation points to an accident is the first official indication of the direction of the inquiry, but it is not a final finding.

Police say the forensic laboratory results will be central to establishing what happened. Until those results arrive, the exact substance involved and the manner in which the food was contaminated remain unknown.

The incident has also raised concerns about food safety in the area, with residents calling for clarity on how the dessert became dangerous and what steps can prevent similar tragedies. Police say further details will be shared once the forensic examination is complete.