MANILA, PHILIPPINES – An unofficial statement released by one of the doctors who checked on the bodies of the two persons who died after drinking milk tea in Manila said there was no sign of cyanide or other strong chemicals in the victims’ throat.
The doctor said there was a big possibility that the victims – milk tea shop owner William Abrigo and customer Suzaine Dagohoy – were killed by one of the ingredients of the milk tea they drank that day.
A third victim, Dagohoy’s boyfriend Arnold Aydalla, is still recuperating in a hospital in Manila, the police said.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has started testing samples of the milk tea from Ergo Cha shop in Bustillos to determine what really killed the two victims.
The FDA said it will take at least two days to determine the poisonous substance that killed the two and to check if cyanide was in the milk tea.
Cyanide was suspected to have been mixed with the milk tea that the victims drank because of how fast the poison affected the victims.
Malacañang said it will wait for the results of the police investigation before it will make any comment on the deaths of two people.
“I don’t want to take the results as they seem on the surface, but rather to wait for the results of the investigation of the PNP on the matter,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a radio interview.
Dagohoy and boyfriend Aydalla ordered a drink at the Ergo Cha Milk Tea House on Thursday morning.
They complained that their drink, which was prepared by the owner himself, Abrigo, tasted different, prompting Abrigo to also take a sip to test it.
Just a few minutes later, Dagohoy vomited and collapsed. Aydalla also felt dizzy and his limbs stiffened.
Cynadie mixed in any food or drinks have always proved to be very lethal.
In 2005, 30 elementary students in San Jose town, Mabini, Bohol died while more than 100 others were hospitalized after eating cassava snack contaminated with cyanide. – BusinessNewsAsia.com