Three have died and nine others were in hospitals this morning after eating millet dumplings that may have contained toxic pesticides.
Yesterday evening, a woman surnamed Tseng (曾) in Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) was taken to the hospital after developing convulsions, but was unable to be resuscitated.
About 30 friends and family came over that evening to observe her wake, where they ate the same millet dumplings with snails, bamboo shoots and taro that Tseng had made and consumed earlier.
Photo copied by Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
A total of 12 attendees began seeking medical attention starting at about 3am for vomiting and convulsions.
Six of them lost consciousness on the way to the hospital.
By 7am, two more had died and nine were still in hospitals receiving treatment.
Since many people were exhibiting the same symptoms, family members suspected it might have been food poisoning and sent the remaining millet dumplings and other food to a hospital for testing.
Tseng came in at about 9pm yesterday exhibiting a strange smell, Taitung Mackay Memorial Hospital emergency room director Liu En-jui (劉恩睿) told reporters.
Liu said he asked the family if it might have been food poisoning, but they said it was not likely and suspected it was an illness related to her advanced age.
Six more people came to the Mackay hospital throughout the night, two of whom exhibited the same smell, causing doctors to suspect food poisoning, Liu said.
It appeared to be a neurotoxin, potentially an organophosphate used in pesticides or another type found naturally in plants, he said, adding that the patients had constricted pupils and were trembling, with body stiffness and secretions from the mouth and nose.
Taitung County police this morning visited the village and questioned the man who collected the snails to ascertain their source.
County health officials have also visited Tseng’s family and the hospitals to gather samples and the remaining dumplings.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
RSS