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COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 26 April) – Eighty people who attended a Teduray tribal wedding reception Thursday in South Upi, Maguindanao del Sur were rushed to two hospitals after they suffered severe stomach pain and vomiting.
Dr. Mohammad Ariff Baguindali, chief of Integrated Provincial Health Office of Maguindanao said that until late afternoon on Thursday rescue teams and health officials were busy attending to the patients at Rural Health Unit Hospital in South Upi, Maguindanao del Sur and Datu Blah Sinsuat District Hospital in Upi, Maguindanao del Norte.
“Sixty-five persons were sent to RHU South Upi and 15 to Datu Blah Hospital,” Baguindali said.
Based on the initial findings of the health officials, a spoiled chicken dish cooked in spices and coconut milk as its main ingredient called “beniton” could have triggered the food poisoning.
Baguindali said the intense day heat could have spoiled the tribe’s specialty dish. He noted that it was cooked in the morning and eaten in the late afternoon.
“We conducted 24 hours observation and possibly some of the patients will be out within today (Friday). We will still conduct a surveillance investigation,” he added.
Mayor Reynalbert Insular, town mayor of South Upi said most of the victims were children and all of them were immediately attended to by their health and disaster teams.
The victims came from Barangays Pandan and Kigan of South Upi town. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera/MindaNews)