22 persons get ill due to ‘food poisoning’
Twenty-two persons were rushed to the hospital after they went ill Monday morning.
The victims – 13 from two de Pedro families and 9 members of Rafante family – are neighbors at Brgy. Bangac, Mina, Iloilo.
Mina Police Station chief Insp. Efraim Opjer identified the victims as couple George and Nelida de Pedro and their children Noryl, Angelie, Joryl, John Lloyd, Jonalyn, and Jenil; Mikhail de Pedro and his children Mikhaela, Sedrily, Kea, and his one year-old child; and spouses Noel and Rizal Rafante and their children Raymond, Catherine, Rosebeth, Mary Joy, Ric Amea, Franklin, and John Fritz.
They claimed to have consumed a variety of fish, locally known as maya-maya, which they bought from an ambulant vendor, a certain Freddie of Janiuay town, Iloilo, last Sunday morning.
“They cooked it and consumed the food on the same. Sinabawan lang nila but I’m not aware to the other ingredients they combined with maya-maya,” Opjer said.
He claimed that they even bought the same variety of fish from the same vendor on the same day but did not experience any stomach upset.
At around 10 a.m. of Monday, the three families started complaining of stomach pain and some of them, especially the young ones, were already vomiting.
Opjer said that they went to the area and checked the victims and brought the 22 victims to Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City.
As this developed, results of laboratory analysis are yet to be disclosed.
Foodborne illness usually arises from improper handling, preparation, or food storage.
