15-7-2023 (MANILA) A heartbreaking incident unfolded in Zamboanga City as an 11-year-old child lost their life and 23 others were hospitalized on Friday after consuming expired canned sardines and corned beef that had been discarded by a dealer and deemed unfit for human consumption.
In official statements released separately on Friday afternoon, the Zamboanga City Health Office and the Zamboanga City Police Office identified the young fatality as Gabriel Agdatan Sumulang, whose lifeless body now rests in a mortuary.
According to a report from Catholic Station DXMS, Sumulang and the other 23 victims, including six preschool children, belong to marginalized families residing in Sitio Malubog, Barangay Patalon, Zamboanga City.
The 23 victims were promptly rushed to various hospitals, as reported by the Zamboanga City Local Government Unit (LGU).
It was revealed that they had consumed the expired canned sardines and corned beef, which were discarded in a vacant lot in Barangay Patalon by a truck driver named Aldo Reyes Labacanacruz. Labacanacruz reportedly carried out the dumping under the instructions of his employer, Gaudencio Rojas.
The merchant, Rojas, allegedly informed the police that Labacanacruz disregarded his directive to dispose of the canned goods in a secluded trash site, far away from the area where the victims resided.
The Zamboanga City LGU has assured the provision of relief support and financial assistance for the burial expenses of Sumulang and expressed its condolences to the affected families.
