An elderly man died and seven others, including six children, were hospitalised in Rajouri, J&K, after consuming a poisonous wild vegetable. The incident of suspected food poisoning occurred in Moda village after two families ate the vegetable.
One person died while seven others are undergoing treatment after a suspected food poisoning incident was reported from Kotranka sub-division of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, where members of two families fell ill after consuming a wild vegetable for dinner on Friday night.
According to officials, the incident took place in Moda village, where eight people developed symptoms soon after eating the vegetable. They were first taken to the Community Health Centre (CHC) Kandi and later referred to the Government Medical College (GMC) Rajouri for specialised treatment. An elderly man identified as Mohammad Hussain (60) died during treatment, while the remaining seven patients, including six children and one adult, are currently hospitalised.
Official Confirms Fatality, Seven Stable
Principal GMC Rajouri Amarjeet Singh Bhatia told ANI, "8 patients arrived and one of them was very critical. He was 60 years old, Hussain Sahab. He was quite critical, and despite the best efforts of our doctors, he could not survive. However, the other seven patients were also quite ill, but they were given timely medicine and all seven are now stable. We are monitoring them closely."
He added that medical teams visited the village to assess the situation and rule out any further cases. "Now, the issue is that a panic had spread in Moda. In light of that, I went to Moda village today with my team. We visited this family's house and spoke with the villagers in Moda village. First, we spent about half an hour to an hour investigating to see if there were any cases in other families, in the neighbourhood, or among any nearby relatives."
Symptoms Likened to Dhatura Poisoning
Paediatrician Dr Liaqat Choudhary said the patients had consumed a wild vegetable locally called "bund gary". He said, "They mentioned that there are two varieties of it: one is edible and the other is poisonous. It seems they couldn't identify the difference. All of them exhibited symptoms similar to Dhatura poisoning, such as dilated pupils, tachycardia, irritability, and dry skin. Their vitals are stable, but they still have symptoms, so they will be kept under observation." (ANI)
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