Boonpan, 78, and his daughter Wijitra, 40, died shortly after eating a curry made with deadly wild mushrooms in northern Thailand – the rest of their family were about to eat the dish as well
A father and his daughter died after eating a Thai curry made with wild mushrooms gifted to them by a family friend.
Boonpan, 78, and his daughter Wijitra, 40 fell seriously ill at their home on August 22 in Chiang Rai, a city in northern Thailand. Shortly after finishing a bowl of the poisonous curry, Boonpan collapsed and began convulsing and foaming at the mouth as his family looked on in shock. Suspecting the curry was to blame, relatives rushed to Wijitra’s locked bedroom, where she was found unconscious. The pair were taken to hospital but were tragically pronounced dead soon after.
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Wijitra’s older sister, Thatsanee, 49, revealed that the rest of the family were also about to eat the same curry – before they saw their loved ones fall ill.
Thatsanee said: “My sister had never cooked with this type of mushroom before because she didn’t usually like mushrooms. A friend gave her some, so she asked our mother to make them into a curry and even shared some with relatives, but they hadn’t cooked theirs yet.”
She added: “I love mushrooms, but after what happened, I will never touch them again. It’s difficult to tell which ones are poisonous.”
Police Captain Boonchuay Kanthawong from Mae Chan Police Station said: “A preliminary examination revealed no external wounds from assault. Earlier, Mr Boonpan, the father of the deceased who showed the same symptoms, was transferred to Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital for further treatment. However, the hospital later contacted his relatives and informed them of the unfortunate news of his passing.”
The mushrooms have been sent to Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital for analysis.
Thai health authorities recently issued an urgent warning about wild mushrooms, alerting the public that the rainy season has caused a surge in deadly poisonous types.
It comes just weeks after Australian Erin Patterson was convicted of murdering three people by serving them a beef Wellington stuffed with death cap mushrooms.