Red tide kills 8-year-old girl in Sorsogon

An eight-year-old girl did not live to see the New Year after being downed by shellfish with red tide toxins in Sorsogon province in the Bicol region. Radio dzRH reported Tuesday that Rose Ann Lagamayo died at noon Monday after suffering from severe stomach pains. Lagamayo, a resident of Barangay Sampaloc in Sorsogon City, ate shellfish gathered from Sorsogon Bay, where authorities had imposed a shellfish ban due to red tide. The incident prompted the local Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to maintain the ban on gathering shellfish from Sorsogon Bay. BFAR regional director Dennis del Socorro had refused to lift the ban amid calls from local fishermen to do so. Del Socorro said they had been conducting laboratory tests on water samples taken from the bay every week, adding the toxin levels had always been “above tolerable levels." - GMANews.TV