Mimixxx
09-03-2005, 02:31 PM
AT LEAST 27 primary school children today died and 100 others were hospitalised after eating a snack during their morning break in the southern Phillippines.
The children at the school in Mabini are all thought to have eaten deep-fried cassava, which can be deadly if it is not prepared properly before eating.
If it is eaten raw, the digestive system turns the root into poisonous cyanide.
Dr Harold Gallego, of the Garcia Memorial Provincial Hospital said some of the children only took two bites of the snack because it tasted bitter - but the effects were felt 10 minutes later.
One of the two women who prepared the snack was also hospitalised.
Treatment was delayed for the children because the nearest hospital is 20 miles from the school.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005111235,00.html
:stunned:
The children at the school in Mabini are all thought to have eaten deep-fried cassava, which can be deadly if it is not prepared properly before eating.
If it is eaten raw, the digestive system turns the root into poisonous cyanide.
Dr Harold Gallego, of the Garcia Memorial Provincial Hospital said some of the children only took two bites of the snack because it tasted bitter - but the effects were felt 10 minutes later.
One of the two women who prepared the snack was also hospitalised.
Treatment was delayed for the children because the nearest hospital is 20 miles from the school.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005111235,00.html
:stunned: