Times Of Swaziland: BABY EATS WEEVIL TABLET, DIES

BABY EATS WEEVIL TABLET, DIES
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BY LINDELWA MALINGA on 27/04/2017 09:42:00


MBABANE – A family of an 18-month-old baby is inconsolable after they found
the toddler to have ingested the deadly weevil tablet and later died.
The incident is said to have happened last Thursday.
The toddler and her family reside at Sitseni area under Maphalaleni
Constituency, at the mother’s parental home.
Information gathered is that an adult had been looking for some important papers
where the tin which contained the deadly pills had been hidden.
While searching for the papers, the tin fell from the cupboard and the adult,
who seemed oblivious of this, left it on the floor.
The toddler, who had already started crawling and ready to take her first step,
is said to have crawled towards the tin while playing in the house with other
children.
Like all other children her age, when she got to the tin, she took it straight
into her mouth and started licking it.
The tablet, which is said to have turned almost powdery as it had been kept for
some time, was still inside the tin when the minor put it in her mouth and in
the process ingested the deadly tablet.
All this was happened while the elders were seated outside in the yard and they
were only drawn to the child when they heard her crying. When they got closer to
her, they were met by a strong stench of the deadly tablet which came from her
mouth.
They also noticed the tin lying on the floor.
The elders scurried around as they tried to make some effort to try and save the
child but it was too late as she had already ingested the tablet  and it had
started making her look weak.