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Syrian refugee, 16, dies after eating poisonous mushroom

BERLIN -- A German hospital says a Syrian teenager has died of liver failure after eating a poisonous mushroom that apparently resembles edible fungi in his homeland.

University Hospital Muenster spokeswoman Marion Zahr said Monday that the 16-year-old boy died overnight.

A total of five patients were admitted last week with mushroom poisoning, and one of the others is in a critical condition.

Last week, a hospital in Hannover said it had seen around 35 cases in a few days of mainly Syrian refugees poisoned by eating the death cap mushroom, one of the most poisonous in Germany. The Muenster hospital said reporting of the cases and a poster campaign warning against the fungi in several languages appear to have prevented new cases.

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