A meal turned tragic in Olutanga town on Tuesday, July 1, after two people died and four others were rushed to the hospital following the consumption of a poisonous puffer fish.
In a Manila Bulletin report, authorities confirmed the fatalities as 16-year-old Repsine Galliner and 30-year-old Mary Joy Gumata. Galliner reportedly caught the fish and brought it to the Gumata household, where it was prepared and eaten.
Shortly after the meal, all six individuals began experiencing symptoms of food poisoning. Eduardo Gumata, the family patriarch, arrived to find them in distress and immediately brought them to a nearby hospital in Olutanga. Galliner and Mary Joy were declared dead on arrival, while the four others—identified as 13-year-old Joash Gumata, 44-year-old Jerome Gumata, and two others known only as Edmundo and Chrisel—were transferred to a larger medical facility for further treatment.
Puffer fish, known for its potentially lethal toxin called tetrodotoxin, can only be safely consumed when expertly prepared. Ingesting the toxin can lead to paralysis and death in a matter of hours.
