Healthy cassava tubers. Three girls died in Siaya County on Friday
evening after eating poisonous cassava for lunch. FILE | NATION
Three girls died in Siaya County on Friday evening after eating poisonous cassava for lunch.
Four others are admitted in hospital as a result of consuming the tuber.
The
deceased are said to have eaten the cassava meal prepared while their
parents were away. They are Esther Achieng, 6, Jacqueline Akoth, 3, and
Violet Auma, 2.
The ones who were hospitalised are Caroline Adhiambo, Joyce Atieno, her two-year-old daughter Nicole Atieno and Rebecca Awuor.
They were admitted at Sagam Community Hospital and are reported to be in stable condition.
Mrs Jessica Got, the mother of the deceased children, said she had never witnessed something of that nature before.
Jina
sub-location assistant chief Charles Yinda said the girls’ parents had
gone to the nearby Luanda market when the incident happened.
The
administrator explained that the victims fetched the cassava from their
farm which they cooked for a late lunch meal because they had nothing
to eat.
“After eating, they started complaining of
stomach pains and the alarm they raised attracted neighbours who rushed
them to hospital,” Mr Yinda said, adding that the family faces financial
problems.
The sub-chief said that samples of the
killer cassava had been taken to the government chemist for analysis and
warned residents to be careful on the variety of tuber that they
consume.
Area police boss Peter Musyoki said the bodies
of the deceased children have been moved to Yala Sub-District Hospital
for postmortem.
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