News / Local
15 kids cheat death after consuming rate poison
20 Aug 2014 at 07:22hrs | Views
FIFTEEN children from eight families in Bulawayo's Tshabalala suburb cheated death on Sunday after consuming rat poison.
The children mistook rat pellet poison for sweets and shared them.
They were rushed to Mpilo hospital by four ambulances after their parents saw them sweating, vomiting and having diarrhoea.
All the children aged between two and 10, were admitted to the hospital for a day.
Residents had a torrid time trying to determine if their children were part of the group that ate the poisonous pellets.
Mavis Dube, a grandmother to one of those who were affected, said the children were lucky to be alive.
She said parents spent a tense 10 minutes as the children sweated, vomited, had diarrhoea and writhed in pain as they waited for the ambulances.
"One of the residents showed me the pellets on Sunday after the children had eaten them and we just covered them up with soil. We did not know then, that the children had eaten them. We were called by a neighbour who saw one of the boys vomiting," Dube said.
She said one of the children picked the poison from a rubbish pit.
"The children diluted some of the pills with water and added sugar thinking they were making an energy drink," said Dube.
Dube, a community leader at Tshabalala flats, said the child who picked up the pack of poison stays with his grandmother who is more than 80 years old.
Another resident, Steven Masotsha, told Chronicle it was through God's grace that residents found the pack that had the poison as it had instructions on how to treat victims of poisoning.
"If we hadn't seen the pack, the children could have died. We read that we had to mix warm water with salt to induce vomiting," he said.
The parents were horrified to discover that 15 children had consumed the poison.
"We asked the children about the pills and the one who had picked the poison confessed he had consumed it together with 14 others," Masotsha said.
Four ambulances ferried all 15 children to Mpilo Central Hospital where they were admitted for a day and discharged.
Tracy Kudada, a sister to two of the children, said they quickly gathered all the children who had consumed the poison and gave them warm water mixed with salt as instructed on the pack and they all started throwing up and their bowels loosened.
Most of the children who ingested the poison stay with their grandmothers and only three stay with their parents.
The children mistook rat pellet poison for sweets and shared them.
They were rushed to Mpilo hospital by four ambulances after their parents saw them sweating, vomiting and having diarrhoea.
All the children aged between two and 10, were admitted to the hospital for a day.
Residents had a torrid time trying to determine if their children were part of the group that ate the poisonous pellets.
Mavis Dube, a grandmother to one of those who were affected, said the children were lucky to be alive.
She said parents spent a tense 10 minutes as the children sweated, vomited, had diarrhoea and writhed in pain as they waited for the ambulances.
"One of the residents showed me the pellets on Sunday after the children had eaten them and we just covered them up with soil. We did not know then, that the children had eaten them. We were called by a neighbour who saw one of the boys vomiting," Dube said.
She said one of the children picked the poison from a rubbish pit.
"The children diluted some of the pills with water and added sugar thinking they were making an energy drink," said Dube.
Dube, a community leader at Tshabalala flats, said the child who picked up the pack of poison stays with his grandmother who is more than 80 years old.
Another resident, Steven Masotsha, told Chronicle it was through God's grace that residents found the pack that had the poison as it had instructions on how to treat victims of poisoning.
"If we hadn't seen the pack, the children could have died. We read that we had to mix warm water with salt to induce vomiting," he said.
The parents were horrified to discover that 15 children had consumed the poison.
"We asked the children about the pills and the one who had picked the poison confessed he had consumed it together with 14 others," Masotsha said.
Four ambulances ferried all 15 children to Mpilo Central Hospital where they were admitted for a day and discharged.
Tracy Kudada, a sister to two of the children, said they quickly gathered all the children who had consumed the poison and gave them warm water mixed with salt as instructed on the pack and they all started throwing up and their bowels loosened.
Most of the children who ingested the poison stay with their grandmothers and only three stay with their parents.
Source - chronicle
