Two persons died in Ibokun, Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State, and four others were hospitalised after eating yam flour, popularly known as amala with stew on Friday.

One of those that died, Mrs Kehinde Fasanya was a staff of Obokun Local Government Council, but the identity of the second person could not be ascertained at the time of filing this report.

The corpses of those that died have been deposited at the mortuary of the Osun State General Hospital at Asubiaro in Osogbo, capital of Osun State, for autopsy to determine the true cause of their death.

Other people that ate from the food were rushed to Our Lady of Fatimah Hospital at Jaleoyemi area in Osogbo, but the doctors at the hospital said their cases could not be managed there and referred them to the Wesley Guild Hospital of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital in Ilesa for comprehensive treatment.

The incident has caused panic and apprehension in the state as residents were already warning their relations within and outside the state not to buy yam flour or eat the famous amala delicacy.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Rafiu Isamotu said steps had been taken to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident, and advised people not to panic.

He said the preliminary findings revealed that the family members had been eating from the same yam flour in the past weeks and that the poison in the food could be in the stew.

Isamotu, who was at the hospital alongside the Director of Public Health, Dr Adepoju Gbenga, said experts had been deployed to the house where the family members ate the food and that sample would be taken to laboratory for investigation. (Daily Trust)

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