SHILLONG, April 7 � Fourteen construction workers died in East Jaintia Hills district due to suspected food poisoning after reportedly consuming a wild fruit called soh khuiatur.
The incident happened at a village in Saipung situated in that district and is about 144 km from the state capital. All the workers were from Assam�s Dhubri district and have been identified after their bodies were found on Monday, the police said.
The bodies have been sent for post-mortem at Khliehriat, the district headquarters. The police have however, ruled out any foul play in the incident, but are nonetheless awaiting the post-mortem report.
�Prima facie it looks like a case of food poisoning. There are no indications of any foul play, but then we will wait for the post-mortem report,� East Jaintia Hills Superintendent of Police MK Dkhar said.
Preliminary reports say the labourers collected fruits from the wild and ate them on Sunday evening and were found dead the next morning.
Meanwhile, information has been passed on to the victims� families and Dkhar said the relatives have come to the district headquarters and the bodies would be handed over after completion of formalities.
Our Golakganj correspondent adds: The construction labourers who died in East Jaintia Hills district, were from Chapor-Balazan area in Dhubri district and ten of them were identified as Sahidul Rahman, Moi Hussain, Zahirul Ali, Sapikul Ali, Enamul Haque, Mrinal Roy, Mohibul Haque, Mehbub Ali, Zahirul Haque and Manik Roy.
