Caterer arrested over food ‘poison’

AN OBUASI-based caterer is in trouble after food that she was engaged to cook for some mourners at a funeral, is believed to have led to the death of one person while nine others who ate the food are battling for their lives in the hospital.

The suspect, whose identity has not been disclosed to journalists yet for security reasons, was said to have served the food to the mourners just as she was engaged to do during a funeral rites at Obuasi last Saturday.

However, one Kwadwo Sam, who was also served the food at the funeral, decided to take the food home to his 18 months old grandson, who minutes after eating the food, developed stomach complications, leading to his death.

Kwadwo Sam hurriedly reported his ordeal to the Obuasi Police, who commenced investigations into the death. Around the same time news started to spread that other mourners that ate the same food had developed stomach aches.

DSP Martin Asenso of the Obuasi Police Command, disclosed to journalists that at least nine people, who also ate the same food, served by the beleaguered caterer at the funeral grounds, are battling for their lives in the hospital.

He said the police suspected that perhaps the food that the caterer served to the mourners was contaminated, hence resulting in the death of the child and nine others also being hospitalised.

DSP Asenso said the caterer was then apprehended by the police to assist in investigations, stressing that the security agencies were still questioning the under-fire caterer to help get to the bottom of the dicey case.

He disclosed that Kwadwo Sam, who gave the cooked food to his grandson, which led to the child’s death after he had eaten the food, has also been apprehended and granted police inquiry bail.

According to the police chief, the nine people that have been hospitalised, the head of the family who organized the funeral and other mourners that attended the event at the St. Thomas Schools in Obuasi, are on police radar.

“The aforementioned people have all blatantly breached the government’s order that bans people from attending funerals due to the COVID-19 restrictions so they must be arrested to face the law”, the police capo explained.