Eight persons including women and children died and nine others fell ill after consuming poisonous mushrooms in the last four days in upper Assam's Tinsukia district.
At least 16 members of four families in the district fell ill on April 5 after consuming the mushrooms that they had picked from a nearby forest, official sources said today.
They were admitted to Assam Medical College Hospital here where a five-year-old girl Anjali Durga and one Manju Garia (40) died that day, the sources said.
Two other girls - Dulami Maji (7) and Leba Swasi (15) -- whose parents work as labourers in the Namdang Tea Estate in Margherita -- died yesterday, they said.
Subna Gongaram (40) of the tea garden, Rupali Gogoi (30) of Ramnagar in Digboi area of Tinsukia, Chotu Karmakar (50) and Arati Buragohain (50) died today, the sources said.
The four families had shared the mushrooms after collecting them from the forest, they added.
