DUBAI // Six months after their two children died of suspected food poisoning, Patrick D'Souza and his wife Anne-Sophie are still waiting for answers. Chelsea, seven, and Nathan, five, died on June 13 and 14 after eating takeaway food from a Chinese restaurant in Dubai. But the authorities have yet to release a statement about what caused their deaths, and no one has been prosecuted.
Mr D'Souza, from India, described December as the "most painful" month. Chelsea would have turned eight on December 2, with Nathan's sixth birthday four days later. "Chelsea used to get all the attention at school as she was born on UAE National Day. She used to celebrate it with flags of the UAE and other things," Mr D'Souza said. "Nothing is back to normal. Sometimes I feel it all just happened yesterday. There is an emptiness that does not go away, despite my trying hard to indulge in work and other things. There are moments when it hits you, and that is painful."
More than 500 mourners gathered at St Mary's Catholic Church a few days after the tragedy. Thousands of UAE residents offered support to the parents on a Facebook group. The deaths also resulted in some changes to food-safety procedures in the emirate and the country. "The last meeting we heard about was of expert doctors from Rashid Hospital who were to prepare a report a few months ago," Mr D'Souza said. "We have heard nothing since. It's so hard to find out anything. Sometimes we are so much in pain that we do not bother."
On the evening of Friday, June 12, the children, their French mother and the family's housemaid ate a meal from the Lotus Garden restaurant in Al Qusais. All four fell ill that night and were taken to the New Medical Centre Specialty Hospital near their home. They were discharged after treatment. But the condition of Nathan and Chelsea worsened and they were taken back to hospital on Saturday. Nathan was pronounced dead on arrival. Chelsea was moved to Dubai Hospital. She died the next day.
The Lotus Garden was closed by Dubai Municipality as a precaution. It reopened in September after being given a clean bill of health. Vangie Monjardin, the managing partner, insisted the restaurant's food had not been responsible for the deaths. "We strongly believe that it was not our food, since it was proved by the tests done by Dubai Central Laboratory and through the toxicology report from Germany as stated by the director of Dubai Municipality," she said. "That's why we were given a consent to reopen."
Dubai Municipality confirmed the health clearance but refused to comment further. Minor improvements were made in the kitchen, and the restaurant also enrolled in the "Menu Safe" programme, a protocol recommended by the municipality. Dubai Public Prosecution began an investigation into the deaths and post mortem examinations were performed on the children's bodies before they were buried in France.
Prosecutors said they would be making the only official comments on the case. Since then, there has been no word from health bosses. However, at the time of the deaths, Qadhi Saeed al Murooshid, the director general of Dubai Health Authority, acknowledged that there had been "mistakes, contradictions and misunderstandings" in the treatment of the children. "It is hard proving that food poisoning was the cause of death," he said in a television interview. "But it is also clear that the cases should have been under careful watch for at least three hours, and that perhaps they were released too soon.
"The main problem is there is carelessness and negligence, and perhaps this is a case of medical malpractice. But we cannot say as we are still investigating." After requests to public prosecutors, there has been no indication of whether or not the case is being investigated. Prosecutors have not commented since the receipt of the test results from abroad. In September, police said the results proved the restaurant was not to blame.
Khalifa bin Deemas, Dubai's advocate general, did not respond to queries last week. The D'Souzas wait, surrounded by memories. "I can't move from here," Mr D'Souza said. "All my children's belongings are as they were in their room. I feel guilty to remove all that and move out." pmenon@thenational.ae * With additional reporting by Awad Mustafa
UAE v West Indies
First ODI - Sunday, June 4
Second ODI - Tuesday, June 6
Third ODI - Friday, June 9
Matches at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. All games start at 4.30pm
UAE squad
Muhammad Waseem (captain), Aayan Khan, Adithya Shetty, Ali Naseer, Ansh Tandon, Aryansh Sharma, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Ethan D’Souza, Fahad Nawaz, Jonathan Figy, Junaid Siddique, Karthik Meiyappan, Lovepreet Singh, Matiullah, Mohammed Faraazuddin, Muhammad Jawadullah, Rameez Shahzad, Rohan Mustafa, Sanchit Sharma, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan
The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
The specs
Powertrain: Single electric motor
Power: 201hp
Torque: 310Nm
Transmission: Single-speed auto
Battery: 53kWh lithium-ion battery pack (GS base model); 70kWh battery pack (GF)
Touring range: 350km (GS); 480km (GF)
Price: From Dh129,900 (GS); Dh149,000 (GF)
On sale: Now
Company profile
Name: Maly Tech
Started: 2023
Founder: Mo Ibrahim
Based: Dubai International Financial Centre
Sector: FinTech
Funds raised: $1.6 million
Current number of staff: 15
Investment stage: Pre-seed, planning first seed round
Investors: GCC-based angel investors
THREE
Director: Nayla Al Khaja
Starring: Jefferson Hall, Faten Ahmed, Noura Alabed, Saud Alzarooni
Rating: 3.5/5
Bahrain GP
Friday qualifying: 7pm (8pm UAE)
Saturday race: 7pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)
'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'
Rating: 1 out of 4
Running time: 81 minutes
Director: David Blue Garcia
Starring: Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham
MAIN CARD
Bantamweight 56.4kg
Abrorbek Madiminbekov v Mehdi El Jamari
Super heavyweight 94+kg
Adnan Mohammad v Mohammed Ajaraam
Lightweight 60kg
Zakaria Eljamari v Faridoon Alik Zai
Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Mahmood Amin v Taha Marrouni
Light welterweight 64.5kg
Siyovush Gulmamadov v Nouredine Samir
Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Ilyass Habibali v Haroun Baka
Tips for travelling while needing dialysis
- Inform your doctor about your plans.
- Ask about your treatment so you know how it works.
- Pay attention to your health if you travel to a hot destination.
- Plan your trip well.
RESULT
Kolkata Knight Riders 169-7 (20 ovs)
Rajasthan Royals 144-4 (20 ovs)
Kolkata win by 25 runs
Next match
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders, Friday, 5.30pm
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Company Profile
Company name: Namara
Started: June 2022
Founder: Mohammed Alnamara
Based: Dubai
Sector: Microfinance
Current number of staff: 16
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Family offices
Federer's 19 grand slam titles
Australian Open (5 titles) - 2004 bt Marat Safin; 2006 bt Marcos Baghdatis; 2007 bt Fernando Gonzalez; 2010 bt Andy Murray; 2017 bt Rafael Nadal
French Open (1 title) - 2009 bt Robin Soderling
Wimbledon (8 titles) - 2003 bt Mark Philippoussis; 2004 bt Andy Roddick; 2005 bt Andy Roddick; 2006 bt Rafael Nadal; 2007 bt Rafael Nadal; 2009 bt Andy Roddick; 2012 bt Andy Murray; 2017 bt Marin Cilic
US Open (5 titles) - 2004 bt Lleyton Hewitt; 2005 bt Andre Agassi; 2006 bt Andy Roddick; 2007 bt Novak Djokovic; 2008 bt Andy Murray
UK - UAE Trade
Total trade in goods and services (exports plus imports) between the UK and the UAE in 2022 was £21.6 billion (Dh98 billion).
This is an increase of 63.0 per cent or £8.3 billion in current prices from the four quarters to the end of 2021.
The UAE was the UK’s 19th largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Q4 2022 accounting for 1.3 per cent of total UK trade.
MATCH INFO
UAE Division 1
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 12-24 Abu Dhabi Saracens
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph
Forwards: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck
Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
Company Profile
Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8
The specs: 2017 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali
Price, base / as tested Dh207,846 / Dh220,000
Engine 6.2L V8
Transmission Eight-speed automatic
Power 420hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque 624Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined 13.5L / 100km
Australia World Cup squad
Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa