Young girl dies of mushroom poisoning

A seven-year-old girl from Ostrava, in Moravia, has died after eating a meal of poisonous mushrooms. A hospital spokesperson said the child had been brought in suffering from severe stomach pains and that despite intensive treatment doctors had been unable to save her life. Mushroom picking is a popular summer pastime in the Czech Republic and millions of Czechs pick wild mushrooms in the forest rather than shopping for them in the supermarket. Despite repeated warnings of the dangers, several people die of mushroom poisoning every year.