More than 1,000 students poisoned by fruit-flavoured candy in Surigao del Sur

Shopkeepers attend to their candy retail
More Than 1,000 Students Poisoned by Fruit Flavored Candy in Surigao del Sur – www.plnmedia.com

More than 1,000 students have fallen ill this past Friday after eating fruit-flavoured candy sold by local vendors in Surgao del Sur Province.

Provincial disaster management groups are saying no deaths have been reported so far, but at least 1,100 students in the towns of Cagwait, Tago, Bayabas, Marihatag, in the capital region of Tandag, Surigao del Sur, have been affected.

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Officials are saying that many children fell ill just minutes after eating the candy, which was flavoured with durian, mangosteen and mango and sold by local vendors for one peso or less.

So far seven vendors have been detained in Tandag and Cagwait, although charges have not been filed. Locals fear the candy may have come from China and not a local supplier.

The local government intends to hold a special session to declare a ‘state of calamity.’

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Students were taken to government hospitals and the provincial capital building where they were treated by government health workers and private doctors.