(updates death toll)
San Salvador, 6 APR (EFE).-at least two children and the father of one of them died intoxicated and 10 others are in hospital after eating contaminated tamales with a pesticide in the border area of El Salvador with Guatemala, various sources reported today.
Misfortune happened overnight on Thursday, when several members of a family had dinner tamales pisque (corn dough stuffed with beans) in the Canton El Coco, municipality of Chalchuapa, Western Department of Santa Ana.
The director of Civil protection, Jorge Meléndez, today confirmed the death of the two children in a press conference and the representative of that institution in Chalchuapa, Douglas Ramos, told reporters that the father of one of the children also died.
Two children and an adult died last night, although the latter’s death had not been confirmed by any authority and was not among the hospitalized.
The victims have been identified as Alvaro Ernesto Zúñiga; his father, Elisha Zúñiga, and Bryan Alexander Ramos; two children were 10 years old, targeted police and medical sources correspondents of San Salvador in that region media.
Of the other 10 intoxicated persons, between children and adults, five are hospitalized in Chalchuapa and the other five in the city of Santa Ana.
Preliminary versions indicate that the grandmother of one of the deceased children, Hortensia Medina Ramos, who is hospitalized, prepared the dough for tamales at the same table where the pesticide had been dissolved in water.
Other versions indicate that the mass is contaminated because the container with the chemical was open near the table. EFE
