Zambia: Deadly food poisoning killed one factory worker and made several others extremely sick in Mpongwe. As per reports, the workers of Somawhe Estates were having their usual lunch when they suddenly started to feel sick.
Coilard Chisamba, a general worker, along with his colleagues, started to feel dizzy after consuming the food comprising Nshima, eggs, soya chunks, goat meat and small fish.
The 26-year-old Chisamba from Mpongwe died immediately after reaching hospital, while nine of his colleagues were hospitalised for suspected poisoning from food they consumed. This incident occurred on December 13 afternoon in at Somawhe Estates.
While speaking to local media, the deceased worker’s brother said that they usually have their lunch together and one of the workers is assigned to cook. The usual happened on Wednesday, however it’s unclear on what went wrong.
Furthermore, he said, “The workers usually have their lunch at noon after contributing mealie meal and relish which they went with from their various homes. One of the workers was assigned to cook nshima at lunchtime, which all the ten as a group ate with different relish which included small fish, eggs, soya chunks and goat meat,” he said.
He explained that after having nshima, they also had water from the farm tap. However, after a short moment, each one of them started feeling dizzy and was rushed to the farm clinic, where they were later referred to Mpongwe Mission Hospital.
“Police rushed to the hospital and found six of the victims admitted to Mpongwe Mission Hospital, where they found the victims being attended to by medical personnel. Three other victims were referred to Roan General Hospital where they are admitted,” he said.
He added that the cause of the poisoning is not yet known, and Somawhe management is yet to be engaged to establish the cause.
The family of the deceased are in deep shock, and the reason for the death is still unknown. Zambia Police are doing an investigation and trying to find out the reason for the death.
Notably, the factory is a chemical factory where they produce tons of chemicals, which can be a reason for death.
