Candy downs 37 kids in Benguet
By ZALDY COMANDA
BAGUIO CITY – Thirty-seven children suffered from suspected food poisoning after eating candy distributed by a Korean missionary couple in Atok, Benguet Wednesday.
Initial investigation showed that Lee In Suk, 52, and Tiehua Woo, 55, distributed the candies outside the Natubleng Elementary School at about 12:20 p.m.
The couple left and boarded a bus to Buguias, Benguet where they are staying. Twenty minutes later, 19 of them who ate the candy suffered from vomiting and stomach pain and were taken to the hospital.
The incident was reported to Buguias police who waited and flagged down the couple who was then invited to the police station for investigation.
The couple told police they bought the candy in a grocery in Buguias where they have been staying for four years and distributed them to children.
Supt. Carol Lacuata, regional information officer of the Cordillera Administrative Region police, said police have taken samples of the candy which came from Bulacan and taken to the Food and Drug Administration for examination.
The couple was temporarily released pending results from the FDA. Only four of the victims taken to the district hospital in Atok remain for observation.