Laguna lambanog poisoning death toll climbs to 11
(UPDATED: 23 December 2019 / 11:40 a.m. to include additional fatalities as confirmed by authorities)
MANILA, Philippines — Three more persons died from drinking coconut wine, locally known as lambanog, in Rizal, Laguna, bringing the number of fatalities to 11, police said Monday.
Authorities also said that the number of people brought to the hospital for also consuming lambanog on Sunday afternoon has increased to 301 from the earlier reported 122 individuals.
READ: 7 dead, at least 100 taken to hospitals in Laguna, Quezon after drinking ‘lambanog’
Laguna police chief Col. Eleazar Matta told INQUIRER.net that from among those hospitalized, six are in critical condition while 18 are currently unstable.
According to Matta, the victims were having an “ordinary weekend drinking spree” when separate incidents of alleged poisoning happened.
A report from the Laguna police said the victims drank the lambanog bought from a retailer based in Barangay Pook. The owner of the retail outlet is now being investigated, police said.
Findings of a doctor in the San Pablo District Hospital, where some of the victims were given medical attention, said the cause of death of the victims she treated was methanol poisoning.
But the Laguna Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRMC) has placed the number of deaths at 10, while 316 were confined to hospitals.
Laguna DRRM officer Aldwin Cejo said they continued to deploy ambulances to bring patients from Laguna to hospitals as far as the Philippine General Hospital in Manila, Muntinlupa City, and Quezon City.
Cejo said seven people, all from Rizal town, and two from Nagcarlan, both in Laguna, had died.
Ernesto Aguilar, a 54-year-old farmer from Candelaria, Quezon, also died, he added.
Authorities said the victims experienced stomach ache, dizziness, and vomiting, which were common signs of poisoning.
“We had our meeting this morning and the PHO (Provincial Health Officer) said they may have ingested the lambanog as early as Friday. It’s possible some only began experiencing the symptoms (Sunday),” Cejo said.
In Quezon, the police had traced the store that possibly sold the wine to the victims and immediately ordered its shut down.
Laguna Governor Ramil Hernandez had also ordered a temporary ban on the sale of lambanog across the province.
