Society

Centre Region: Four from same family die after eating alleged poisoned food.

Food said to have been consumed by the four deceased persons

Four persons from the same family, are said to have died in Ebolsi, a small village in Awae, in the Mefou and Afamba Division of the Centre Region, after allegedly consuming poisoned food. The deceased are said to have consumed fufu.
The tragic incident is reported to have occurred Thursday, July 4, leaving inhabitants of the community in consternation.

Reports hold that the mother of the children had sent six of them to the house to prepare the meal. She was still in the farm when four of the six kids reportedly ate the fufu and soup, which they had prepared. Two of the children are said to have refused eating on grounds that the food had a strange scent.

One of the kids who refused to eat the meal is quoted as having recounted that the food was prepared by their sister. It is said it was not the first time she was preparing food for the family.

The same child is said to have narrated that while they were eating, he noticed the corn fufu had a sour taste. As such, he and his junior sister refused to eat the meal.

“We tasted the food, but it wasn't appetising in our mouths, so we refused to eat,” the child recounted.

The four others visibly hungry, the same source is also quoted as having recounted, went ahead and ate the food voraciously. Unfortunately, three of the kids are said to have died with foamy liquids dripping from their nostrils. The fourth is said to have died moments later at a health facility.

The girl, sources familiar with the incident are quoted as having narrated, after cooking the soup, decided to get additional corn flour to prepare the corn fufu.

Some locals hold that the corn flour she used came from a bag in which insecticide used on their family farm was usually placed.

The lifeless bodies of the children are said to have been ferried to the Armed Forces Technical Training Centre, CEFTA, Mortuary in Ekounou, Yaounde IV Subdivision, Mfoundi Division of the Centre Region.

Inhabitants are said to have blamed the sudden death of the four children on the negligence of their mother.

“The mother should be blamed for this degree of laziness,” a local said, questioning why she opted to relinquish her kitchen duties to her seven-year-old daughter.

The incident comes days after a similar incident left two dead and three others hospitalised on July 2, after allegedly eating poisoned banana cake. The incident had occurred in the locality of Batchingou, Nde Division of the West Region.

The five children, we gathered are said to have travelled from Douala to spend holidays with their grandmother, when the tragic incident happened.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3163 of Tuesday July 9, 2024