Six people of the Tuong Clan ethnic minority group in Cao Bang Province were killed by drinking wine later discovered to be poisonous early yesterday morning, report municipal police.  

The Gelsemium elegens

 Two days ago, Nong Thi Loi, 63, mother of Nong Van Thiem, Head of the Tuong Clan, went into the forest to pick medicinal plants to soak into wine converting it into a popular medicinal wine.

Unfortunately, Loi also accidentally harvested roots of Gelsemium elegans, one of the four highest-toxicity plants in Viet Nam, and stewed them into the wine along with the normal medicinal herbs.

Late in the evening of November 12, Loi took a small gulp of it and her entire body became numb and stiff. But she was soon OK again and her family reckoned her soul was just led away by a forest spirit for while.

Now convinced of the medicinal wine’s potency, they immediately organized a “pow-wow” at their home for a spirit-expelling ritual.

Thiem got home around 12:00 a.m. after attending a wedding reception and met some of his luckier relatives still lingering after the rituals.

Thiem then invited his brother and four other relatives to drink wine as an expression his hospitality. By 2:00 a.m., the poison killed Thiem, his brother and the four relatives.

Municipal police arrived shortly thereafter and carried out investigations to determine causes of death.