Potatoes are used in every household because of their health benefits and sweet taste. However, there are situations when they can be extremely dangerous and even cause death.
A girl named Maria Chelysheva lost her parents, brother and grandmother because of potatoes they have kept in the cellar. Her father Mikhail Chelyshev, 42, entered the cellar first and collapsed quickly because of the toxic fumes from the rotten potatoes. According to police, he died soon after.
His wife Anastasia, 38, got worried when he did not return, so she went to check on him, and she collapsed too because of the fumes. Their son Georgy sadly faced the same fate too. Iraida, 68, who was Anastasia’s mother, felt that something was wrong so she asked a neighbor for help. Unfortunately, she didn’t wait for assistance to come before she went to the cellar and collapsed too. She left the door open on her way so the fumes dispersed when young Maria went in to see her entire family dead.
The cause of death of this unfortunate family is gas poisoning caused by rotten potatoes. Potatoes contain glycoalkaloid which is a toxin that can make them very dangerous under certain conditions.
This compound is very poisonous if consumed but it is just as dangerous if inhaled. In rotting potatoes the toxicity of this chemical increases which releases the poisonous gas.
This heartbreaking story should be a lesson for everyone that spoiled or rotten food should not be kept for too long and should be disposed of on time before it becomes a life-threatening danger.