san Salvador, 6 APR (EFE).-at least two children 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 occurred last night, 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, which occurred last night, although local media claimed that the grandfather of one of the children died in a press conference.
The two victims have been identified as Alvaro Ernesto Zúñiga and Bryan Alexander Ramos, both aged 10, police and medical sources targeted 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
