KARACHI: A doctor, his wife and their three young daughters, aged between two and eight years, were found dead inside their apartment in Karachi on Sunday, police said, as investigators awaited results of chemical analysis of body samples to determine the cause of the deaths.

The bodies were recovered from a seventh-floor apartment in Lakhani Towers after neighbors alerted police in the Ahsanabad neighborhood on the outskirts of the southern Pakistani port city.

The man of the family was a doctor, who worked at a nearby private hospital and had been living in the apartment complex with his family since 2021, according to a police report of the incident.

“Whether it was suicide, murder or poisoning will become clear after the postmortem report,” Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Aurangzaib Khattak told Arab News.

The room in which all five bodies were found was locked from the inside, while the apartment’s main door was also locked, according to police. Investigators were examining the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

The man of the family, identified as Dr. Umar, was last seen returning home on Sept. 17, police said, citing the neighbors. The management at the nearby Ahsanabad City East Hospital confirmed that Dr. Umar, whom police identified only by his first name, worked at the facility.

Police said officers entered the apartment after receiving a call on emergency helpline. A crime scene unit subsequently collected evidence from the apartment as investigators began examining possible causes of the deaths.

Karachi Police Surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed told Arab News that postmortem examinations of all five bodies had been completed and samples collected from the bodies had been sent to laboratory for chemical analysis.

“There were apparently no signs of physical violence or injuries,” she said. “The final cause of death will be known after the chemical examination report.”

Sindh Provincial Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah expressed sorrow over the deaths and sought a report from the provincial police chief, directing authorities to conduct a complete and transparent investigation.