3 died after eating poisonous cassava in eastern Tanzania

Three people including two family members died in eastern Tanzania's region of Morogoro after eating poisonous cassava for lunch, local police said Sunday.

Regional Police Commander Ulrich Matei said that one man has been admitted at the Morogoro Regional Hospital as a result of consuming the tuber.

He said the incident occurred on Saturday at around 3 p.m. local time in an area located few kilometers from Morogoro Municipality.

The regional police chief said on the fateful day, five people who were making bricks in the area ate cassava as lunch.

"After eating, they started complaining of stomach pains and the alarm they raised attracted neighbours who rushed them to the nearby Military Hospital," he said.

Matei added two people died on the way to hospital while the third one died after reaching the hospital.

He said that two people out of five who ate the poisonous cassava survived and one of them was discharged and one is still in hospital.

One of the survivors, Joshua Msiani said that they were making bricks in Kauzeni area and one of their colleagues brought in cooked cassava and they started eating.

"I ate just one piece of cassava and after sometimes I became unconscious and I just found in hospital ward," he said.

Police said that investigation on the matter has started and samples of the killer cassava had been taken to the government chemist for analysis. Endit