Food Poisoning Kills 30 Kids In San Jose Mabini In 2005

Maybe you can hear the news about more than 100 school student in San Jose Mabini hospitalized due to food poisoning. Kills 30 unlucky kids. Here is the news clip from AP.


Thirty elementary school children died and another 105 were hospitalized after eating a native delicacy made from cassava — a root that could be poisonous if not prepared correctly — at the San Jose Elementary School in Mabini, Bohol.

Reports said the children, mostly second and third-grade pupils, started complaining of stomach pains and dizziness right after eating the cassava cake, known locally as maruya, during the morning recess.

“At 12 noon, teachers started to send victims to hospitals for treatment. Unfortunately, many of them failed to make it,” said Philip Puderanan, public information officer of the Bohol Municipal Hall.

Sr. Supt. Sancho Bernales, chief of the Bohol police, said the children were taken to different hospitals in the province for medical treatment. Some of the children were brought as far as the provincial capital of Tagbilaran City, some 100 kms. from Mabini.

Military trucks reportedly helped bring the children to hospitals, the nearest of which was 20 to 30 kms. away in Ubay town.

Of the 19 children taken to the Lita Cotamora Clinic in Ubay, 14 died and five were transferred to the nearby government-owned Don Emilio del Valle Hospital, where 20 other victims were confined. There were also two deaths reported at the Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital in Tagbilaran.

Doctors who attended to the victims said food poisoning was the cause of death.

Francisca Doliente told the Associated Press that her 9-year-old niece Arve Tamor was given some of the deep-fried caramelized cassava by a classmate who bought it from a regular vendor outside the San Jose school.

“Her friend is gone. She died,” Doliente said, adding that her niece was undergoing treatment.

At least two women, reports said, were responsible for selling the cassava cakes to the San Jose school children. One was identified as Aning Luyong, 60, who reportedly regularly sold snacks at the school. Luyong was said to have eaten the rest of the cassava cakes after the children fell ill and is now also in critical condition.

Another vendor, a 68-year-old woman, is reportedly now under the custody of Mabini town Mayor Stephen Rances.

“We are appealing for help in investigating the cause of death of the children. We need experts,” Rances said.

The roots of the cassava plant, a major crop in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world, are rich in protein, minerals and vitamins A, B, C. It is poisonous, however, without proper preparation.

In many impoverished Philippine towns, like Mabini, it is a substitute for rice, the staple food.

When eaten raw, the human digestion system will convert part of the cassava into cyanide. Even two cassava roots contain a fatal dose.

The most popular among school children is deep fried cassava coated with sugar.

Bohol Vice Gov. Julius Cesar Herrera said provincial health authorities in Tagbilaran will conduct further investigation to determine the victims’ exact cause of death.

The Department of Health (DOH) has also sent medical experts to Mabini to investigate the incident. Tapped to conduct the probe were disease experts from the DOH’s Regional Service Unit in Bohol.

“The hospitals have enough manpower and supply to handle this. We are coordinating with our people in the field,” said Dr. Yolando Oliveros, head executive assistant of Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit.

Grieving parents bury poisoned children

Grieving parents have began the grim task of collecting their dead children poisoned in a freak tragedy in Mabini, Bohol.

“We are preparing to bury the children,” said Philip Fuderanan, a spokesman for the mayor of the rugged coastal town.

Wrapped with white cloth, the stiff dead bodies of children were loaded on a government-owned trucks.

“It was just awful to see the remains of the children, and their parents who are crying and helpless,” Fuderanan said.

Some of the the dead children were transported back to Mabini and were met by residents of the small town still trying to understand what had happened.

State of calamity declared in Mabini

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has placed the entire town of Mabini in Bohol under a state of calamity following the deaths of 30 children who were poisoned after eating cassava cakes.

The President also ordered the release of five percent of funds from her calamity fund or P1.5 million to the local government of Mabini for procurement of medicine and other necessities.

The fund, according to Arroyo, will also be used to help the victims' family for burial expenses.

The President also ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of Health (DOH) to investigate the food poisoning.

She said that she is expecting both the PNP and DOH to submit a report on the cause of the tragedy. -- with reports from MNS