Meghalaya, June 2: Five members of a family died in Lumdam village under Mairang Civil Sub-Division, West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya after consuming a mushroom, suspected to be poisonous.
The deceased persons have been identified as Smilinda Mawnai, Konbenshon Mawnai, Barisha Mawnai, Storshon Mawnai, and Stebenshon. The father is currently undergoing treatment in Civil Hospital, Shillong while the eldest daughter and the youngest son survived.
Sordar Shnong (headman) of Lumdam, Andreas Nongrang said, the mushroom, locally called tit-kber, are not rare and are usually consumed by the locals.
“We would often consume the mushroom. But we don’t understand, why this has happened to them?” he said.
Nongrang said that the villagers would often experience nausea and bodily irritation from eating the mushrooms but consuming fruits would palliate the conditions.
Meanwhile, an elder of the village (Rangbah Dong), Ailin Lyngdoh, informed that the incident took place on May 25 when the family consumed the mushroom that they had found in the forest. The following day, the members took ill, and it was suspected that the mushroom was poisonous.
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They were taken to Civil Hospital, Shillong. However, Korbenshon Mawnai did not survive and passed away on May 27 and on the following days, Barisha Mawnai, and Storshon Mawnai passed away on May 29 and May 30 respectively.
On May 30, Smilinda Mawnai breathed her last, and on the following day, Stebenshon Mawnai too passed away. Five members of the family die after consuming ‘poisonous’ mushroom in Meghalaya.
