Taitung food poisoning incident kills 1 more

Taipei, Oct. 5 (CNA) The recent food poisoning incident in Taitung County has left one more person dead, bringing the death toll to four, the Taitung MacKay Memorial Hospital confirmed on Saturday.

The victim was a 59-year-old woman surnamed Yang (楊) who fell into a coma on Sept. 18, MacKay hospital said.

Before her death, she had been treated with tracheal intubation to keep her alive.

However, the hospital said Yang's family members held a meeting with doctors on Friday, during which they decided to take her off life support as she had not shown signs of improvement.

The food poisoning incident was traced back to the death of an 83-year-old woman identified by her surname Tseng (曾), who died on Sept. 17 after eating glutinous millet dumplings she made.

That evening, several relatives and friends, including Yang, who came to mourn her death and ate leftover dumplings and other items in Tseng's kitchen later exhibited symptoms such as vomiting and convulsions.

Three more people subsequently died, while nearly a dozen people were hospitalized for treatment.

According to authorities, the dumplings were later discovered to contain a high level of terbufos -- a hazardous chemical compound found in some pesticides.

Only Yang's younger sister, 53, remains hospitalized for treatment, the hospital said.

Taitung prosecutors on Saturday said they were still investigating the case, without disclosing any further details.