/ 25 September 1999

FAMILY POISONED, BABY DIES

A NINE-MONTH-OLD boy has died and four people are in a serious condition after drinking tea laced with poison at a farm compound outside Hluhluwe in Zululand. Hluhluwe police are investigating allegations that a 12-year-old girl sprinkled ant poison in the family’s food and in their tea on Wednesday, because she had a grudge against them. “The surviving victims were a baby girl of six months, a four-year-old boy, a four-year-old girl and an adult female who appeared to be the mother of one of the children. It was difficult to establish the relationships of the four as they were in shock and convulsions,” local doctor Gavin Mattin said. The girl allegedly confessed to a nurse who assisted the victims, and said she used a commercial ant poison looking like black sugar granules. It is extremely strong – four granules are enough to kill a medium-sized dog.