After fatal Christmas dinner: five hospital employees under suspicion

Campobasso (Italian) – They enjoyed Christmas dinner together. Just hours later, two members of the family of four were dead. Mother (50) and daughter (15) are said to have died of food poisoning. The father is in the hospital. Inconceivable: Clinic employees are said to have sent the women home despite their severe symptoms. The public prosecutor’s office is now investigating the case.

The investigation is directed against five clinic employees for negligent homicide and negligent bodily harm. The focus is on doctors who had previously treated the family. Despite severe symptoms, mother Antonella and daughter Sara were sent home from the emergency room twice, according to Italian media reports.

Autopsy should provide answers

According to current findings, the investigators are going from severe poisoning. Doctors suspect a toxic reaction with rapid organ failure, which was fatal within a few hours. An autopsy was ordered. The results are still pending.

Food is examined

Police have since confiscated food from the family’s home in Campobasso in the Molise region (Italy): mussels and seafood as well as fish and mushrooms. The investigators also collected leftover food from the garbage. According to media reports, all samples are currently being examined at the state institute for food and toxicology. It is still unclear whether fish, mushrooms or another substance caused the poisoning.

Father still in hospital

The father of the family will continue to live in Spallanzanihospital treated in Rome. According to the clinic, he is awake and in stable condition but is under close medical observation. No further details about his health were disclosed.

Only the family’s older daughter remained symptom-free. According to Italian investigators, she apparently did not attend the Christmas dinner.

Could the tragedy have been prevented?

The public prosecutor’s office now wants to clarify whether warning signs were overlooked, whether there were errors in treatment and whether earlier inpatient admission was the cause Tod could have prevented. The investigation is in full swing.