Brazil police probe deadly, arsenic-laced Christmas cake

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian police are investigating three deaths and several hospitalizations resulting from a family eating an arsenic-laced Christmas cake, local media reported over the weekend.

Three women died after eating the cake in a family get-together on December 23 in Torres, a small seaside town in southern Brazil.

The woman who baked the cake, along with a 10-year-old girl who also ate it, remain in hospital, receiving treatment for poisoning.

The news website G1 said police were waiting until the hospitalized woman's condition improved to question her. Testimony had meanwhile been taken from 15 other people as part of the investigation.

Laboratory tests came back on Friday showing arsenic levels in blood samples taken from the three dead women.

So far, no charges have been laid and police have not said whether it was being treated as a murder case.

Reports said the woman who made the cake got along well with the other members of the family, and there was no early indication of a dispute.

Images provided by police and posted online showed a partially served cake of dried fruit with white marzipan icing and maraschino cherries on top.

Media identified the three dead women and gave their ages as 43, 58 and 65.

Initially, three people were taken to hospital, but one of them was discharged after receiving treatment.

At the family gathering, only one person did not eat the cake and was not affected.

The CartaCapital news website said the ex-husband of the woman who made the cake died in September.

Police initially believed that he died of foodborne illness. But his death was now being re-examined and an exhumation of his body has been ordered, according to CartaCapital. — Agence France-Presse