Poisoning Suspected After Hundreds Fall Ill at Iraqi Post
BAGHDAD, Oct. 9 — Hundreds of Iraqi army and police officers became violently ill after breaking their Ramadan fast Sunday evening at a base in southern Iraq, in what authorities are investigating as a possible mass poisoning attack.
At least 10 people died and 1,200 were sickened at a base in Numaniyah after eating a chicken dinner that may have been laced with cyanide, according to recruits and an army colonel with knowledge of the investigation. He said the food was undergoing laboratory tests.
Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the Iraqi armed forces, said the head of the base’s mess hall and several other employees there had been arrested. But he said that only 350 to 400 people fell ill, that four had to be treated at a hospital and that none died. more…
