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Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Chronicle Reporter

THREE children from Old Magwegwe who ate poison after their cousin mistook it for brown sugar on Saturday are stable and remain admitted to Mpilo Central Hospital.

Their cousin aged five died a few minutes after consuming the porridge and the three were rushed to the public institution for medical attention.

All the four are members of one family from Old Magwegwe suburb.

The incident reportedly happened at around 11 AM on Saturday and resulted in the five-year-old dying within minutes after consuming the porridge. Three other boys aged eight, 12 and 18 are said to be in a stable condition amid fears that their lives were in danger.

In an interview yesterday, Mpilo acting chief executive officer Professor Solwayo Ngwenya said the three were stable and being treated from the general wards in the hospital.

He said the family had brought the substance which was used as sugar and healthcare workers at Mpilo had discovered that it is rat poison.

“We have three patients who are victims of an unfortunate incident which led to the death of a child on Saturday. All three are stable in the general wards and not intensive care units as previously predicted. We understand that they made porridge on Saturday and the young one added rat poison to it as he mistook for brown sugar,” said Prof Ngwenya.

“We send our condolences to the family and at the same time encourage members of the public not to bring dangerous substances including fuel, pesticides and any type of poison in the house especially where there are children. They would rather place these out of reach so that we do not have similar incidents,” he said.

Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube could not readily comment on the matter.

@thammoe