Karachi, Feb 22 (IANS): Five children of a family died from suspected food poisoning on Friday after dining at a restaurant here, police said.

The children, aged between 1.5 to 9 years, and their family dined at a popular restaurant in Karachi's Saddar locality on Thursday night. They started feeling sick later and were taken to a hospital, Dawn online cited police officials as saying.

"All five siblings passed away today, while their mother is in critical condition," a police official said on Friday, adding that further action would be taken after recording her statement. The family hails from Quetta.

According to initial investigation, the cause of the children's death appeared to be food poisoning, the police said.

A Geo News report said that the family also ate at an eatery in Balochistan's Khuzdar before arriving in Karachi.

The police said they would attempt to track down samples of all the food that the family had consumed on their journey from Quetta to Karachi.

The restaurant in Saddar was sealed and samples of food were taken for chemical examination. Fifteen staff members of the restaurant were also detained.