48 residents hospitalized with “stomach disorder”

Two days after the incident, the Ministry of Health commented on the poisoning of 48 residents of the Shamsiddin Shohin district.

Photo: Internet

The Ministry of Health of Tajikistan reported that the 48 affected residents of the Shamsiddin Shohin district in the Khatlon region experienced “simple stomach upset” after consuming kurutoba, rather than poisoning.

As previously reported, on January 24, 2023, 48 residents of the Chagam village in the Shamsiddin Shohin district in southern Tajikistan were poisoned after consuming kurutoba.

“Fortunately, laboratory test results showed that there was no poisoning. Only excessive consumption of butter added to the ‘kurutob’ caused stomach upset and nausea among the residents,” the ministry’s press service reported.

As a result, 24 residents of Chagam village were hospitalized in the infectious diseases hospital in Kulob city, and 24 were admitted to the local hospital in the district.

However, social media users expressed skepticism towards the Ministry of Health’s explanation. Some believe it is due to the incompetence of unqualified personnel in the healthcare sector, while others found the ministry’s explanation absurd.

User Mirasil Mirzoev writes:

“It’s shameful, can’t a more plausible version be proposed during this time? This means either we have no specialists in this field, or the laboratory lacks equipment. Stomach upset from butter can happen to one or two people, not everyone, it seems to me. Not everyone ate from the same dish!? They could have come up with a more believable lie.”

“They also said it was all due to salt! I heard this from a doctor at the Kulob city hospital! He said they used unrefined salt!”, writes user Shahmigul Mukhsinova.

“If they consider this absurd version that excessive consumption of butter is the main cause, then woe to our medicine,” writes Rohbar Odinaev.