5 Onge die of toxic drink; 15 others seriously ill

Andaman tribesmen die of toxic drink
9 Dec 2008, 1430 hrs IST, PTI

http://timesofindia .indiatimes. com/Pollution/ Andaman_tribesme n_die_of_ toxic_drink/ articleshow/ 3813023.cms

PORT BLAIR: Five Onge aboriginal tribesmen, whose population has been
dwindling, died and 15 others took ill after consuming a toxic chemical at
Dugong Creek of Little Andaman island of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

"Onge tribals have drunk the chemical mistaking it to be alcohol last
night from a plastic can that had got washed ashore from the Bay of
Bengal at Dugong Creek," said South Andaman district SP Ashok Chand.

A medical team led by deputy director R C Kar had gone to the far flung
island, about 125-km south-west of Port Blair, to provide emergency
medical service to the seriously ill tribesmen.

They would be flown to Port Blair for further treatment as the remote
area lacked proper healthcare facility, Chand said.

With the death of five Onge tribesmen, the island's population of the
tribe has come down to 95.

According to official sources the population of Onge tribals, who
numbered 672 in 1901, had dwindled to 100 recently.