Sylhet: Five people died and seven others reportedly fell sick after eating puffer (patka) fish at Dorbosta Uttar Mohail village in Jaintapur, Sylhet on Tuesday.

The deceased were Abdur Rahim, 60, his two sons Solaiman Hossain, 25, and Lokman Hossain, 20, and school student Rahin Ahmed, 8, and Monira Begum Moni, 10, of the village.

Jaintapur Upazila Council chairman Joynul Abedin, who was at Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital, said Rahim bought a puffer fish from a local market on Monday and 10 members of two families took it at night, and they started vomiting at about 3:00pm on Tuesday.

Four of them died on the way to Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital while Moni at the hospital, said officer-in-charge of Jaintapur Police Station Shafiul Kabir.

Seven others-Umar Ali, 40, his wife Murshida Begum, 35, his son Kawsar, 17, daughter Sarika, 18, Borhan, 60, Joynal Abedin, 40 and Razia Begum, 40, were also admitted to the SOMCH, he said, adding that they might have died after eating puffer fish. 

The harmless-looking puffer fish, which got its name from its peculiar reaction of expanding several times its size when it perceives threat, can be found in brackish water areas of the country and the open sea. Its liver contains a gland that secretes a highly lethal poison. There had been incidents of deaths and poisoning from puffer fish eating in the past.