Hundreds of guests at a lavish Mexican wedding began vomiting and doubling over in pain with ambulances called to the scene after eating a four course wedding meal – with one particular ingredient
A Mexican wedding ended in disaster when over 100 guests were struck down with stomach pain and vomiting after eating poisonous mushrooms.
The lavish reception in the Jardín La Estancia banquet hall in Cuernavaca, south of Mexico City ended in chaos as huge numbers of guests fell ill after a four-course meal. Videos of the disaster show guests dressed in their finery doubled over in pain, with sufferers complaining of stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and dizziness.
Witnesses and attendees have speculated that the cause of the mass-illness was the mushrooms served as part of the wedding dinner, which was prepared by an outside catering company. While men and women were supposedly served different meals at the event, people from both groups fell sick.
Ambulances were called and the videos show paramedics tending to guests at the scene, taking many into hospital for further treatment, as reported by the Metro. According to Morelos Health Services spokesperson Héctor Barón Olivares, victims were treated and released about five hours later.
He said: “They were treated immediately, kept under observation, and then discharged. Various probably causes will be analysed, such as bacteria in the food.” An investigation into what caused the food poisoning is still ongoing.
The comes only weeks after a woman in Australia, Rachael Dixon, died and two others were taken ill after drinking a mushroom drink at a the Soul Barn wellness retreat. Police later announced that they were investigating a link between the concoction and the condition of the victims.
Last year, poisonous mushrooms hit the headlines again when Donna Ventura, 64, from Montana became gravely ill after eating sushi from China containing morel mushrooms. She suffered a prolonged and agonising illness, her kidneys and liver failing, and died in April 2023. There were at least 51 illnesses and one other death linked to the restaurant.
In July 2023, Erin Patterson was accused of using deadly mushrooms to poison four members of her family with a meal she prepared for them. Three of them died after ingesting lethal death cap mushroom cooked into a Beef Wellington
