Zanzibar: seven people died after consuming toxic turtle meat

Seven people have died and twenty four others are in hospital after eating poisonous turtle meat in Tanzania’s semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar.

Turtle meat is a common delicacy among locals living along the coastal areas of the Indian Ocean but this particular one consumed was from a poisonous species, specualtions said.

Zanzibar’s President Hussein Mwinyi sent condolences to the families of the deceased, in a message shared on Twitter.

Pemba police boss Juma Sadi has banned the consumption of turtle meat following the incident, BBC News reports.