25 fall ill after shopkeeper mistakes rat poison for curry
March 5th, 2010 - 3:22 pm ICT by IANSHanoi, March 5 (DPA) Twenty-five people have been hospitalised in southern Vietnam after a shopkeeper accidentally sold a woman rat poison instead of curry for a family feast, a doctor said Friday.
Pham Thi Hanh, director of the Hoa Thanh District Hospital in Tay Ninh province, said the victims’ conditions were improving but they were not out of danger.
“They still have vomiting, headaches and dizziness,” Hanh said. “I am not sure about their prognosis yet because people who eat rat poison often die after three days.”
Hanh said Pham Thi Nho, 53, went to a local grocery store Thursday to buy curry to cook chicken for a traditional feast on the anniversary of a relative’s death.
The shopkeeper apparently confused the rat poison with curry because of the similarity in packaging. Nho, an illiterate, was unable to read the package.
Nho seasoned her chicken with the poison, which has little taste, and fed it to 25 family members.
All 25 were admitted to hospital Thursday night.
The rat poison used was apparently an anti-coagulant, which kills victims by gastric haemorrhage. In both rats and humans, the poison can take several days to cause death.
- Soon, a Pied Piper's flute deadly for rats but harmless for humans, plants - Jan 13, 2011
- Smuggled elephant tusks hidden under snail shells - Aug 24, 2009
- Male Virginity Test By Vietnam Acupuncturist Leads To The Freedom Of 3 Convicted Rapists - Jul 04, 2010
- Vietnamese say My Lai apology `better late than never' - Aug 24, 2009
- 'Freaky mouse' defeats common poison - Jul 25, 2011
- Scientists find way to harness thrombin's anti-blood clotting properties - Jun 21, 2010
- Ear-based virginity test helps to free three convicted rapists - Jul 02, 2010
- Vietnam holds meet on n-power - Mar 08, 2012
- Tribals ostracise woman for ploughing - Jul 29, 2011
- 23-year-old woman ages 50 years in just days! - Oct 13, 2011
- Vietnam capital Hanoi turns millennium-old - Oct 01, 2010
- Food poisoning could have lifelong consequences - Mar 21, 2012
- Forget Indian curry meals, Pizza is now Britain's favourite dish - Aug 09, 2010
- Indians win on opening day of Tata steel chess - Dec 22, 2009
- India A move closer to Asian Team Chess title - Dec 27, 2009
Tags: anti coagulant, curry, dizziness, family feast, haemorrhage, hanh, hanoi, headaches and dizziness, hoa thanh, little taste, local grocery store, nho, prognosis, rat poison, shopkeeper, similarity, southern vietnam, tay ninh province, thursday night, traditional feast