Wild mushroom consumption leads to six deaths in Meghalaya

Shillong, May 5 (IANS) The death toll due to consumption of wild mushrooms in Meghalaya rose to six as a teenage girl succumbed at a hospital here, officials said on Tuesday.Officials said that at least 18 people of three families at Lamin village, bordering Bangladesh, in West Jaintia Hills district, fell critically ill after eating wild mushrooms last week. Collecting the wild mushrooms from a nearby forest, these people, who are neighbours, had consumed them. The brother of the 14-year-old girl, who succumbed on Tuesday, had died on Sunday, the health officials said.The other 12 persons have recovered and have been discharged from the hospital.Media reports said four more people from Assam's Charaideo district and two from Nagaland also died last week after consuming poisonous wild mushrooms.
--IANS sc/prs