30 die from poisoned drinking-water, scores hospitalized

At least 30 people have died after drinking contaminated water from a dam in Masu-biyow village in the outskirt of Baidoa, the administrative capital of Southwest State.

Abdi Mohamed Ali, a local resident of Masubiyow village said that at least 30 had died and another 20 were treated at a hospital.

These people drunk water from this dam, then they started have pain in the stomachs and suddenly they died,” said Ali.

Al though, no toxicology tests have been performed as of yet, the residents are said to have used drinking-water fetched from dam.

Medics says the condition of those sickened by the contaminated water was not clear.

“We have taken samples of water from the well, where most of the residents got sick after using the water, and once it is confirmed that the water is contaminated, we shall release the report,” said of doctor visited the area.

Large portions of the Somali population are at continuous risk from waterborne diseases like Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) and cholera.

Since 20 January this year, there have been at least 216 cases of Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) in South Central Somalia, with the number of cases increasing sharply in the past month.