Food poisoning kills 2, downs 17

BACOLOD CITY ,Philippines  — Two incidents of food poisoning, in Kabankalan City on Saturday and in Escalante City on Sunday, have resulted in the death of two persons and the hospitalization of 17 others.

In Escalante, twelve were rushed to the Vicente Gustilo District Hospital after eating puffer fish (locally known as "butete"), according to Dr. Gwendolyn Nava.

Two of them, Nixon Legaspi and Jose Artajo, however were declared dead on arrival while the rest were transferred to the Teresa L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City where they are now recuperating, said Nava.

In Kabankalan, a farmer and his six children were taken to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City eating black mushrooms.

Hospitalized were Dionesio Cabual, 45, and his children, Diony, 19, and five others aged 14, 12, 10, 5 and 3.

Dionesio said he harvested the black mushrooms from his farm in sitio Mag-aso of Brgy. Urong, made soup from these, which they ate for breakfast Saturday morning.

After eating, Dionesio said he and his children felt dizzy and then thirsty. They ate sugar to counter the effects of the poison, boiled jackfruit leaves on water and drank it, he said.

They kept drinking more water but he said: "We were getting weaker, so we all lay down and waited for our deaths." Luckily, his wife did not eat the mushrooms and was able to seek help.