Misbah Ali

A day after the death of a five-year-old Afghan boy who was evacuated from Kabul, his six-year-old brother died in Poland after eating poisonous mushrooms, officials informed on September 3, 2021.

On August 23, 2021, the boys reached Poland with their family after the Taliban takeover and were quarantined at a migrant facility in the town of Podkowa Lesna near Warsaw.

“The child’s death has been registered,” the Children’s Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw said in a statement.

Earlier this week the six-year-old had received a liver transplant but his condition did not improve.

The hospital informed that the children ate the mushrooms the day after they reached in as yet unexplained situation.

The Office for Foreigners, which runs migrant centres in Poland, informed that a total of five people required medical assistance for stomach issues but that they had not initially said that they had consumed mushrooms.

On August 26 and 27, the brothers and their 17-year-old sister were rushed to the hospital.

The sister was later discharged.

An investigation has been opened into the incident by the prosecutors.

The spokesman for the Office for Foreigners, Jakub Dudziak had denied a press report that the children had eaten the mushrooms because they were not being fed adequately at the centre.

The spokesman informed that the evacuees are given “three meals a day, consisting of varied ingredients with appropriate calorific value, including dairy products, meat, vegetables, fruit, and drinks.”

“In connection with this unfortunate accident, employees of centres for foreigners will sensitise Afghan citizens not to consume products of unknown origin,” Dudziak said.

Reportedly the children’s father, an accountant, worked for many years for the British army.

After the Taliban takeover, the family was evacuated by the Polish military at Britain’s request.

Poland evacuated 1,231 people from Afghanistan, including many on behalf of third countries and international organisations such as the European Union.