Brazilian Christmas Cake Poisoning Leaves Three Dead, Police Investigate Arsenic Contamination

Authorities are probing whether spoiled ingredients or intentional poisoning caused the deaths at a family gathering in Rio Grande do Sul.

Three women from the same family died after consuming a Christmas cake suspected to be contaminated with arsenic at a gathering in Torres, Brazil.
Five family members, including a 10-year-old child and the woman who baked the cake, were hospitalized after experiencing severe symptoms of food poisoning.
Police are investigating whether the poisoning was accidental, linked to spoiled ingredients after a power outage, or intentional; no charges have been filed yet.
Arsenic was found in the blood of three victims, and the cake has been sent for forensic testing, with results expected next week.
Authorities are also exhuming the body of the baker's husband, who died of suspected food poisoning in September, to determine if there is a connection.