Fire victims suffer food poisoning

Andi Hajramurni The Jakarta Post/Makassar

After surviving a fire that reduced their houses and belongings to ashes last week, 30 residents of Tarakan, Malimongan Tua, Wajo district are now facing another ordeal -- food poisoning.

One-year-old Dani, one of the food poisoning victims, lay helplessly in Jala Ammiri Navy hospital on Saturday. His face was still pale, while he kept holding onto his mother.

Apart from Dani, 13 other residents -- mostly children, were being treated at the hospital, while other victims were being taken care of at two other hospitals.

The people had to be hospitalized because of their weak condition and they had to be fed intravenously to neutralize the poison.

The victims suffered food poisoning after eating chicken porridge from a passing food vendor on Friday.

They bought the porridge because most of them are still unable to cook as they are still living in temporary shelters and in the ruins of their houses.

"We don't have the chance to cook while we, especially the children, are already hungry. Many of us bought the porridge and ate it. We had no suspicion whatsoever that there was something wrong with the porridge since the food vendor usually passes the area," said Ilham, one of the residents.

But an hour later, those who consumed the porridge started to feel ill and throw up. Others suffered stomach pain and diarrhea.

After their condition deteriorated, they were then taken to three nearby hospitals.

Gigih, one of the officials at Jala Ammiri hospital, said the hospital was not yet able identify the cause of the food poisoning.

"The victims said they started to feel the symptoms after consuming the chicken porridge," he said.

The hospital has taken samples of the porridge consumed by the patients for laboratory tests. Similar samples were also taken by the police to be examined at the forensic laboratory to determine the cause of the food poisoning.

The chicken porridge seller, Ari, is now being questioned at Wajo Police Station.

The food poisoning victims' houses were razed in a fire on Feb. 10. Fifty houses were burned down, forcing the residents to live in shelters and in what remains of their houses.