Three family members die after eating poisonous mushrooms

Three family members in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang have died and another is in critical condition due to mushroom poisoning according to local doctors.

Three family members in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang have died and another is in critical condition due to mushroom poisoning according to local doctors.

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Doctor Tran Van Hoc from Ha Giang Provincial General Hospital has announced that the third victim died on Monday afternoon while the last one who was in critical condition has been sent to Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi for further treatment.

According to the doctor, the four family members from Vi Xuyen District were rushed to hospital at 11 pm on March 28 with symptoms of abdominal pain, vomiting, dizziness, and diarrhoea.

"The couple aged 52 and 48 and their son aged 28, and daughter-in-law aged 23 said that they ate mushrooms taken from a forest near their home for breakfast at 7 am that day," doctor Hoc said. "They said they started feeling unwell at around 3 pm."

Despite rescue efforts by the hospital, the son, Sung Van Hoang, and his mother, Thao Thi Va died on March 31 and April 1. The daughter-in-law, Ly Thi Pa died at 5 pm on April 2, the doctor said.

The father, Sung Dieu Hong has been sent to Hanoi's Bach Mai Hospital for further treatment.

Mushroom poisoning occurs quite often in Vietnam, especially in the remote and mountainous areas where local people usually get their vegetables from the wild.

Mushrooms are plentiful at this time of the year, and doctors are warning people not to put their lives at risk by eating unidentified fungi.