Poisoned Afghan boy dies, brother still critically ill in Poland

Poland evacuated the family last month at Britain’s request after the Taliban took over Afghanistan

Afghan nationals gather in front of the German embassy in Tehran (VIA REUTERS)

Doctors at Poland’s main children’s hospital said Thursday a 5-year-old Afghan boy, recently evacuated from Kabul, has died and his 6-year-old brother, who has undergone a liver transplant, remains in life-threatening condition after they ate poisonous mushrooms.

The boys and their older sister were hospitalised last week. The family picked and ate highly poisonous death cap mushrooms in the forest around the refugee centre where they were staying in Podkowa Lesna, near Warsaw.

Doctors at the Center for Children’s Health Institute in Warsaw said the older brother successfully underwent a liver transplant but that the damage to his brain was significant and life-threatening. The younger brother was pronounced dead.

Doctors said the parents were at the hospital, under psychological care. The boys’ 17-year-old sister has been released in good condition. Some other family members were hospitalised elsewhere but are now recovering.

Poland evacuated the family last month at Britain’s request after the Taliban took over Afghanistan. The father had worked for the British.

In a separate incident at a different centre near Warsaw, four Afghan men were hospitalised after eating poisonous mushrooms, according to the state Office for Foreigners. Death cap mushrooms, among the most poisonous in the world, closely resemble Poland’s popular, edible parasol mushroom.