A mother and her teenage daughter have died in Italy after falling critically ill hours after eating a Christmas meal that investigators suspect may have been contaminated with rat poison.
Antonella Di Ielsi, 50, and her 15-year-old daughter, Sara Di Vita, died from multiple organ failure in Campobasso, southern Italy, days after consuming the festive food. Antonella’s husband and Sara’s father, Gianni Di Vita, was also hospitalised and remains in intensive care.
Investigators believe the meal may have been poisoned and have seized several food items from the family’s home in Pietracatella, including clams, mussels, cuttlefish, cod and mushrooms. Authorities are also examining whether the flour used in preparing the meal contained traces of rat poison.
Gianni owns a flour mill that had reportedly been infested with rats until a few weeks earlier, when pest control operators placed traps and poison, according to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
The mother and daughter became unwell on Christmas Day and were taken to hospital but were discharged. They returned the next morning and were again sent home. On December 27, their condition worsened and they were admitted to intensive care, where they died the following day.
Friends of Sara said she had been optimistic about her recovery. Speaking to La Repubblica, they recalled that she believed the treatment she received would be sufficient and had even made plans to attend social events in the days ahead.
The meal under investigation was reportedly eaten on December 23. The couple’s other daughter did not share the meal and did not experience any symptoms. Investigators say they are still trying to determine exactly what was consumed, as Gianni remains critically ill.
Meanwhile, five doctors are under investigation for alleged medical negligence after the mother and daughter were discharged from hospital twice before their deaths.
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