Risking His Life to Escape... 5-Year-Old Afghan Boy Dies After Eating Poisonous Mushroom in Refugee Camp

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] A 5-year-old boy who escaped from Afghanistan, which was taken over by the extremist armed group Taliban, died after eating poisonous mushrooms at a refugee camp in Poland.

According to the BBC on the 2nd (local time), the 5-year-old boy who arrived at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Warsaw, the capital of Poland, on the 23rd of last month with his parents, died the next day after eating poisonous mushrooms. He was immediately transported to the hospital after eating the poisonous mushrooms but was diagnosed dead that day after suffering brain damage.

The 6-year-old older brother, who also ate the poisonous mushrooms, was in critical condition and underwent a liver transplant surgery, but was also found to have severe brain damage symptoms, and his prognosis is not good.

The 17-year-old older sister also ate the poisonous mushrooms and was taken to the hospital, but after receiving treatment, she has now been discharged.

The family is reported to have made soup using mushrooms they gathered near the center.

Polish media claimed that insufficient food was provided at the refugee camp, causing Afghans to starve, which led this family to gather mushrooms outside the camp.

However, refugee center officials denied these claims.

A spokesperson for the Polish Office for Foreigners stated, "Refugees are provided with three meals a day consisting of various foods with appropriate calories, including dairy products, meat, vegetables, fruits, and beverages."

Currently, the Polish prosecution is investigating the circumstances under which they gathered the poisonous mushrooms.

After the Taliban's occupation of Kabul, Poland evacuated about 1,000 Afghans who had cooperated with NATO forces.

Among them, the brothers' father was an accountant who had cooperated with the British military for years. When the Taliban took over all of Afghanistan, he escaped Afghanistan with the Polish military and stayed at the refugee camp.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.