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Four die of eating toxic mushroom in SW China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-30 19:04

CHENGDU: A pot of stewed chicken with wild mushroom claimed four lives in Hongya County of southwest China's Sichuan Province, said county authorities Monday.

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Li Dingkun, 40, picked some wild mushroom from a fir tree on a nearby mountain in the afternoon of Nov. 19. He and his neighbor Zhu Dengmin made a soup out of the mushroom and a chicken, which their families had together that evening, said a spokesman of Hongya county's publicity department.

The two families' five people soon started to suffer from vomiting and diarrhea, but they were not sent to the hospital by other villagers until they began to lose consciousness the next day, the spokesman said.

Li's wife Wang Dingying died Tuesday, followed by Zhu's wife He Yuzhi Wednesday. Li died Saturday and Zhu Dengmin's 4-year-old grandson died Sunday, he added.

Zhu Dengmin is in stable conditions.

Another couple received some mushroom from Li but they did not eat them that day, a village official said.

A family of three died several years ago eating the same kind of mushroom in the village.