Six Jepara siblings die from cassava poisoning
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 01/04/2011 4:46 PM
Six siblings from Jebol village, Jepara, died over the weekend from alleged food poisoning after eating tiwul, a dried cassava meal sweetened with palm sugar.
“The first to die were two siblings, Lutfiana, 22, and Abdul Amin, 3, who passed away at Kartini General Hospital in Jepara on Sunday morning and Sunday evening,” Jamhamid, the children’s father, said.
Lutfiana and Abdul Amin were buried along with Jamhamid’s other children who died eating cassava: Ahmad Kusrianto, 5, Saidatul Kusniah, 8, Ahmad Hisyam Ali, 13, and Faridatul Solihah, 15, he said.
The family has been left with one child after the deaths, as reported by tribunnews.com.
Jamhamid, who worked as a tailor in nearby Semarang, said his family ate cassava due to his paltry weekly income of Rp 150,000 (US$16.60).
His wife, Siti Sunayah, said that the family had been eating cassava for two weeks.
According to Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) nutritionist Nuri Andarwulan, certain types of cassava might produce toxins such as cyanide if improperly processed.
Poisonous tubers, including cassava leaves, tasted unpleasant and smelled rotten, she added.
