At least 25 people were poisoned on Wednesday after attending a wedding in the Khakriz district in the southern province of Kandahar, local officials said.
The ceremony was the last day of a wedding usually celebrated by distributing a special dessert called “malida,” which is made of ground bread, milk, and sugar.
A spokesman for the provincial department of public health, Abdul Manan Kakar, said that 10 children are among those poisoned at the wedding.
The cause of the poisoning was the local dessert, which is usually served on the last day of a wedding as a long-time tradition among the people.
“The poisoned persons were admitted to Mirwais Hospital (in the district),” he said. “The wedding had ended on Sunday, but the recent ceremony was the last day of the celebration. Women and children had attended there and had the dessert, resulting in sudden stomachache and unconsciousness.
This comes as recently, dozens of residents of Khakriz district were poisoned after drinking milk, according to those aware of the incident.
