Seven people have died while 24 others are hospitalized in critical condition in Pemba, Zanzibar after consuming turtle meat.
Sea turtles are eaten by the coastal people but it is believed that the victims who are from Msuka Taponi, Micheweni District in Pemba, ate poisonous turtle meat.
Following the incident, Pemba North Police Commander Juma Sadi has since banned the consumption of turtle meat.
According to Sadi, three of the victims died on Friday 26, two died on Saturday while two other deaths were confirmed dead on Sunday, November 28.
It is however still unclear whether the seven are from the same family but earlier reports indicated that three children among them were from the same family.
“Two of the people admitted to hospital are children and they are in critical condition,” Sadi further said.
Through a tweet, Zanzibar president Hassan Mwinyi has called upon the resident to remain calm while condoling with the bereaved families.
“I would like to send my sincere condolences to the families of the deceased who passed away after eating a poisonous turtle” wrote President Mwinyi.
Such an encounter was witnessed in Madagascar where 19 people died after consuming turtle meat. 9 among the victims were children
According to the News2sea website, seafood poisoning occurs between the months of March and November. The site further says that between the said months, algae on the seafloor discharges poison.
Turtles and other kinds of fish feed on the poisonous algae thus resulting in such tragedies.
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