COUPLE DIES AFTER EATING DINNER, POISONING SUSPECTED

MANZINI – An engineer employed by one of the mobile telephone companies died with his wife after having dinner on Sunday.

The couple from Zimbabwe resided at Sandla, in Mbabane. According to sources, the pair was discovered writhing in pain after consuming a meal on Sunday evening. The meal, according to sources, was suspected to have been laced with poison.  The sources claimed that after the pair had their home-cooked meal, they went to bed, but fell sick during the course of the night. It was said as their pain intensified, they called for help by contacting the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) on their toll-free number 977.

Paramedics

It has been gathered that the paramedics attended to the pair and transported them to two hospitals. The engineer (38), was transported to Ezulwini Private Hospital (EPH), which is about 15.3 kilometres from his residence at Sandla, by the paramedics. He was reported to have died while receiving treatment. On the other hand, the wife of the engineer (31), was transported to Mbabane Government Hospital, where she was certified dead upon arrival. According to sources, when the pair started to feel ill during the course of the night, they were with their two minor children aged five and 11. The sources told this publication that the children were taken by the police for protection and trauma counselling after the incident. They said they were currently under the care of the police, who were still trying to locate the relatives of the Zimbabwean couple.

Deputy Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Assistant Superintendent Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the demise of the couple. She said the police were still investigating the cause of death. On the question of the law enforcers taking in the children as their parents had passed on, Mnguni said: “The police are still trying to locate family members of the deceased as they were expatriates and the children are being looked after in the interim.” On the other hand, a clinical psychologist said the children left behind by the deceased needed professional help to help them process their grief. She said mental health support could be offered by a child psychologist or therapist and also at the National Psychiatric Referral Hospital.

She said children processed trauma and tragedy in different ways and they needed support to help them navigate through the challenge. The demise of the couple, after consuming food suspected to be laced with a poisonous substance, is an addition to a number of incidents which this publication has reported on, in recent weeks. In fact, this publication yesterday reported that two children aged five and three years died tragically after eating sour milk laced with Masta 900. This reportedly happened at Maculusini, KaPhunga, at a Mbonane homestead.

Pesticide

There was also an incident, which involved three children, aged two, five and nine, who were allegedly forced to ingest a pesticide by their mother. This particular incident happened at Nsingweni, under Maphalaleni Constituency, in the Hhohho Region. In another incident, a paramedic was arrested for allegedly poisoning food that was eaten by her husband and in-laws. None of the people who were allegedly poisoned by the paramedic died. She was charged with four counts of attempted murder. This publication has in the past reported that following an outcry over the misuse of the poisonous pesticide, the Ministry of Agriculture dismissed suggestions for its ban. The suggestions emerged on social media, following the increasing reports of people dying as a result of ingesting the pesticide.

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