Stream water kills 2, sends 40 to hospital

Two persons have died and 40 took ill after drinking from a stream suspected to have been poisoned.

The Cross River state Commissioner for Health, Dr Inyang Asibong, has confirmed the death.

The victims were reported to have drank from stream in Oboso community in Ogoja local government area of Cross River State.

According to the Nation, two other surrounding communities also depend on the stream for drinking water, it was gathered.

Ogoja, in the northern senatorial district of the state, is eight-hour drive from Calabar, the state capital.

The incident, which happened on Friday, has left the communities in mourning mood.

The sudden deaths and illness had led to fears of the outbreak of a strange ailment in the communities.

Asibong, in a statement, said the strange illness was characterised by “sudden onset of vomiting, foaming in the mouth, body weakness and spitting out of blood with some deaths already recorded in three communities in Ogoja local government area of the state that share a common water source.”

The commissioner assured all was being done to get to the root causes of the occurrence.

The ministry, he said, had dispatched a team made up of epidemiologists, doctors, community health workers and other related health staff to the affected communities to ascertain the real situation on ground and offer immediate medical assistance to those affected.

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