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ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanews/06 September) – Two fishermen died hours after eating butete or puffer fish in a drinking spree here on Wednesday evening, a police official said.
The fishermen, Rodrigo Pioquinto, 53, and Randy Algodon, 32, both residents of Barangay Patalon, died at the hospital while under treatment.
Chief Insp. Roberto Marcos, Police Station 10 chief, said the two were rushed by relatives to the hospital for treatment after they started to vomit and complained of severe stomach pain.
Investigation revealed that Pioquinto and Algodon have cooked a puffer fish given them by another fisherman, Alvin Bucoy, and served it as “pulutan” (appetizer),” Marcos said.
Estelita Lacuesta, research division officer-in-charge at the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) regional office, said that puffer fish is a poisonous fish.
The National Geographic stated on its website that almost all puffer fish contains tetrodotoxin, which is deadly to humans since it is up to 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide.
Bucoy was not poisoned since he did not joined Pioquinto and Algodon in the drinking spree, Marcos said. (MindaNews)