Kilifi: 3 Children Die, 7 Others Admitted After Eating Poisonous Mushrooms

• The seven children are still fighting for their lives at the Kilifi County Referral Hospital (KCRH) in the pediatric ward and the High Dependency Unit (HDU)
• Medical Supretindent Malik Tajbhai said the children were characterised by vomiting and general discomfort before succumbing to liver failure
• Christine Furaha, whose two children ate the mushrooms, said it was common for children in the area to pick mushrooms during the rainy season

Kilifi - Residents of Katendewa village are mourning three children who succumbed after eating poisonous mushrooms.

Seven children are still fighting for their lives at the Kilifi County Referral Hospital (KCRH), with five admitted to the pediatric ward and two to the High Dependency Unit (HDU).

Confirming the tragic loss of lives, Medical Supretindent Malik Tajbhai reported that the minors were first admitted at Bamba Sub County Hospital before they were referred to KCRH.

He explained that one child died before referral, the other succumbed during transit to the facility, and the third one passed on while being treated in the HDU.

"One child died at Bamba Hospital and another on the way to Kilifi Hospital. We lost the third at the HDU," he said, as reported by Nation.

Tajbhai added that the children were characterised by vomiting and general discomfort, succumbing to liver failure.

Mushrooms prepared by neighbour

Christine Furaha, whose two children ate the mushrooms and are still admitted to the pediatric ward, said she had eaten a small portion of mushrooms prepared by a neighbouring family.

She explained that the children picked the mushrooms themselves before eating the stew with ugali and their families.

At night one of the children started to vomit and was taken to the dispensary the next day, but there was no doctor, so the parents went to a clinic where he was treated.

Furaha narrated that the boy's condition worsened during the night and he was rushed to Bamba Sub-County Hospital, where he died.

She said the children did not eat the mushrooms due to lack of food, but it was common for them to pick mushrooms during the rainy season.

5 family members hospitalised after eating mushrooms

In a related report, five family members were admitted to a hospital after consuming suspected poisonous mushrooms.

The residents of the Kamonkoli sub-county in the Eastern Uganda district of Budaka were rushed to a health facility while under critical condition after eating mushrooms.

According to James Wambi, who is related to the family, the poisonous mushrooms were picked by children when the family returned from a garden.