A 6-year-old girl, Maryam Mussah, has died while seven family members, including her parents, are admitted at Mangochi District Hospital after eating Nsima with dried usipa commonly known as bonya suspected to have contained poisonous substance.
The tragedy happened on Tuesday at Lana Village, Traditional Authority Mponda in the district.
Mangochi Police Station Publicist Amina Tepani Daudi said that, on the afternoon of the said date, the family of eight including the deceased who was the last born in the family had nsima and bonya as communal lunch which was prepared by the mother of the house.
Daudi added that few hours after consumption of the food, the entire family fell sick and became unconscious due to severe vomiting and were rushed to Mtimabii Health Centre where the little girl was pronounced dead upon arrival.
“The surviving family members were referred to Mangochi District Hospital where they are receiving treatment,” she explained
Police visited the scene of incident and are also waiting for the autopsy results from the same hospital.
Meanwhile, specimen of the suspected poisonous meal has been collected for further examination.
