8 Children and One Adult Dead After Eating Sea Turtle Meat in Zanzibar

A tragedy has occurred in Zanzibar.

Eight children and an adult are dead after eating contaminated sea turtle meat, while another 78 people were hospitalized, authorities told the Associated Press on March 9. The incident occurred on Pemba Island in the Zanzibar archipelago.

The adult who died was also the mother of the one of the children who tragically passed away. Dr. Haji Bakari, the Mkoani District medical officer, told AP the contaminated sea turtle meat had been consumed on March 5 by all of those affected.

E! News has reached out to Zanzibar officials for additional details, but has not heard back yet.

Sea turtle meat is considered a delicacy in Zanzibar, although it can often have devastating consequences due to a type of food poisoning known as chelonitoxism.

“Chelonitoxism is a rare and sometimes fatal type of food poisoning caused by eating marine turtles,” the National Library of Medicine says. “Symptoms can be as mild as nausea and vomiting to more severe forms of neurologic manifestations, coma and ultimately death.”