Three die in Iraq poisoning
Three Iraqis, including two children, have died after eating thallium-laced cake delivered to a football club in Baghdad and eight others are recovering in Jordan, a hospital official said Saturday.
Britain has sent an antidote to help cure those recovering in Amman, Speciality Hospital director Fawzi Hammuri told a news conference.
Hammuri said the incident occurred on January 21 in Baghdad, where 11 people became ill after eating cake containing with thallium, a highly toxic substance used in pesticides and rate poisons.
"A five-year-old child died from the poison and a week later, on January 28, the other 10, including five children, were flown to Amman for treatment," Hammuri said.
"Unfortunately we lost two more people during their hospitalisation in Jordan, including a child. Eight people are still recovering. One is in a coma while the others are in moderate condition," Hammuri said.
He identified the victims as Mohammed Rasool, the secretary general of the Baghdad Air Force Football Club, as well as two of the children of the club's administrator Sattar Jabbar.
Club president Samir Kazem told AFP in Baghdad that the cake was delivered by a coach who had quit the club in a row with the management and later returned.
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