Two children have died in Sotik while 200 people are hospitalised in Bomet and neighbouring Kericho county after food poisoning.
The Saturday ordeal is believed to have happened in an after initiation party affecting mostly youths and children.
However, not everyone was affected as it appeared that only one sufuria was contaminated and that is which the youths and children fed from.
“If you check in the hospitals, you will find most of those admitted are children and youths because they ate food from the first sufuria. Those who ate last were not affected,” said Kiprono Langat, a resident who is admitted to Kaplong Mission Hospital.
According to the village elder Anthony Koskei, the situation was saddening especially for families who had more people attending the event.
However, the county government of Kericho was fast to respond. “We called the county disaster management team, which moved in fast. Tenwek Mission Hospital, Kaplong Mission Hospital and Longisa Hospital also responded promptly and sent ambulances to ferry the sick for treatment," said Koskei.
The victims are said to complain of stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhea, leading to dehydration which resulted to the death of the two children.
According to the area OCPD Jonathan Ngala, investigations towards the incident have been launched. “We have already taken samples of the food the victims ate for tests to establish what caused the poisoning,” said Ngala.
Sotik MP Joyce Laboso urged residents to be careful and observe hygiene while handling food citing the incident as regrettable. Laboso had visited the patients on Sunday at Kaplong Hospital.