"Buriring" kills 2 in Medellin

CEBU, Philippines - A mother and son died Sunday morning after eating puffer fish locally known as “Butete” or “Buriring” for breakfast in Barangay Daan Lungsod, Medellin Cebu.

Remedios Apas and her 30-year-old son Lenito died of severe stomachache coupled with vomiting few hours after eating.

Lenito and two of his relatives caught the fish in Barangay Paypay. Adelaida Cruz said it was Lenito’s sister, Julie, who asked the victim to bring puffer fish for them.

Lenito brought home the fattest puffer fish at 5:00 a.m. which his mother cooked for breakfast. Cruz said she later saw Lenito and his mother grimacing in pain.

“Naglimbag-limbag gyud sa kasakit sa tiyan, si Lenito hapit gyud mulusot sa bong-bong, samtang iyang mama nagmulo sa tiyan unya nagsigi’g suka,” Cruz said.

Two of Lenito’s four children also ate the fish but luckily experienced only minor stomach pains.

Puffer fish is known to be a toxic fish variety that can poison a person who will eat it if it is not properly cleaned, cut, and cooked.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has been reminding the public that “butete” is highly poisonous and its toxins are fatal. In fact, a single puffer fish has enough poison to kill 30 adult humans. It contains tetrodotoxin, which is deadlier than cyanide based on a study in the United States.

Puffer fish is generally believed to be the second most poisonous vertebrate in the world after the Golden Poison Frog.   - (THE FREEMAN)