9 people dead and 78 others hospitalized after eating sea turtle meat on Zanzibar’s Pemba Island

By ALI SULTAN
Associated Press

ZANZIBAR, Tanzania (AP) — Authorities in Zanzibar say eight children and an adult have died from eating sea turtle meat on Pemba Island, while 78 others were hospitalized. Sea turtle meat is considered a delicacy by residents of the East African archipelago even though it periodically results in deaths from chelonitoxism, a type of food poisoning. The district medical officer said Saturday that the adult who died was the mother of one of the children who succumbed earlier in the week. Dr. Haji Bakari says laboratory tests confirmed that all the victims had eaten sea turtle meat. In November 2021, seven people, including a 3-year-old, died on Pemba after eating turtle meat and three others were hospitalized.