Funeral held for second child dead from pesticide poisoning

For the second consecutive day, a Fort McMurray family poisoned by a toxic pesticide is burying a child.

The funeral for two-year-old Zia Hassan was held Friday afternoon at the Al Rashid Mosque in Edmonton, one day after his baby sister was also laid to rest.

"It’s brutal," said Taj Mohammad, who spoke for the family after the service.

"Losing two kids is not easy."

The little boy died Thursday in hospital in Edmonton. A third sibling, a six-year-old boy, remains at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton on a ventilator. Mohammad said the boy is expected to have the ventilator tubes removed soon and will be moved to a recovery room.

Two older children from the same family were released from hospital in Fort McMurray earlier this week.

All the children became ill after breathing toxic vapours released in their home by a pesticide used to kill bedbugs. Their aunt, Shazia Yarkhan said the phosphine, a regulated substance in Canada, was brought back illegally from Pakistan by the children’s parents.

Firefighters said they found an unmarked container within the home containing phosphine.

When mixed with water, the tablets give off a deadly gas. Experts told CBC News the family was likely breathing the vapours for several days before the children fell ill.

Mohammad said the family is still devastated by the deaths, but has been touched by the support from people in both Edmonton and Fort McMurray.

"They are all rallying behind the family," he said. "The support is there and it is great.”

RCMP said use of the pesticide appears to have been isolated to the one apartment.

Earlier Friday, Health Canada issued a warning about the extreme danger that phosphine poses as a reaction to the deaths.