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Man dies after cooking and eating highly poisonous pufferfish

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Man dies after cooking and eating highly poisonous pufferfish

A Brazilian man who feasted on one of the most poisonous fishes in the world has died after spending five weeks in hospital fighting for his life, according to reports.

Magno Sergio Gomes, 46, and his friend ate a toxic pufferfish – known to be 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide – over Christmas after receiving the fish as a present, according to Newsflash via the New York Post. 

Gomes, a father of three, and his pal gutted the fish, removed its liver and then boiled it and ate it with lemon juice in Aracruz, Espirito Santa, in eastern Brazil.

Magno Sergio Gomes, 46, left, ate a toxic pufferfish over Christmas after a pal gifted him the fish as a present. (Newsflash | YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/GettyImages, left, and YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/GettyImages, right)

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However, less than an hour later, both Magno and his friend fell seriously ill, his heartbroken sister Myrian Lopes told Newsflash, adding that her brother had never cleaned a pufferfish before.

“Magno started to feel numb in his mouth, then he went with his wife to the hospital, driving his car,” Lopes said, according to Newsflash.

“When he got there, his mouth was even more numb, and he felt sick. Soon after, he had a cardiac arrest that lasted eight minutes.”

Lopes said that Gomes was intubated and put on life support but never recovered. He died on Jan. 27. 

Myrian Lopes, left, with her brother Magno Sergio Gomes. (Newsflash)

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“The doctors told our family that he died from poisoning, which had quickly traveled to his head,” Lopes said.

“Three days after being admitted, he had several seizures, which greatly affected his brain, leaving little chance of recovery.”

Lopes said her brother’s friend survived the ordeal but is having trouble with his legs. It was not clear if the friend was the same pal who gifted Gomes the pufferfish.

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Pufferfish are extremely dangerous to eat since they contain the deadly toxins tetrodotoxin (TTX) and/or saxitoxin, which can cause severe illness and death, according to the FDA.

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“These are central nervous system toxins and are more deadly than cyanide,” the FDA states on its website.

“Symptoms start within 20 minutes to two hours after eating the toxic fish. Initial symptoms include tingling of the lips and mouth, followed by dizziness, tingling in the extremities, problems with speaking, balance, muscle weakness and paralysis, vomiting, and diarrhea. In severe intoxications, death can result from respiratory paralysis.”

A pufferfish on a chopping board in Japan. (YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/GettyImages)

The toxins are found in the livers, gonads, skin and intestines of pufferfish.

Pufferfish are considered the second most poisonous vertebrate in the world, after the golden poison frog. Pufferfish are also known as puffer, bok, blowfish, globefish, swellfish, balloonfish or sea squab, according to the FDA. 

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Despite the dangers of eating pufferfish, they are considered a delicacy in Japan, where they are known as fugu. Expert Japanese fugu chefs learn to safely chop out parts of the fish that contain TTX. 

The fish is also popular in China and Korea.

A pufferfish in Japan. Despite the dangers of eating pufferfish, they are considered a delicacy in Japan, where they are known as fugu. (Xavier DESMIER/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Due to the potential health hazard, commercial importation of pufferfish into the U.S. is heavily restricted while personal importation is prohibited, according to the FDA.

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There is enough TTX in one pufferfish to kill 30 humans. 

Gomes’ sister said she does not know where the fish her brother ingested came from, or whether it was caught or farmed, according to Newsflash. 

Brazil is reportedly home to 20 species of pufferfish. It is unclear what type of pufferfish Gomes ate.

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Video: Moscow Tanker Blast Most Likely Russian Missile, Video Shows

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Video: Moscow Tanker Blast Most Likely Russian Missile, Video Shows

new video loaded: Moscow Tanker Blast Most Likely Russian Missile, Video Shows

A dramatic explosion that caused the lid of an oil tanker to fly into the sky during a Ukrainian aerial assault on Moscow was most likely caused by a Russian air defense missile, verified video shows.

By James McManagan, Paul Sonne, Malachy Browne and Jackeline Luna

June 19, 2026

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Man charged with attempted murder, released after allegedly forcing toddler into crocodile enclosure at zoo

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Man charged with attempted murder, released after allegedly forcing toddler into crocodile enclosure at zoo

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A man was released from custody on Friday after he was charged with attempted murder for allegedly forcing a 3-year-old boy into a crocodile enclosure at a zoo.

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Cambridgeshire police said that the man, who remains unidentified, wasn’t fit to be interviewed.

The boy suffered critical injuries in the incident at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in Huntingdon, England, north of London.

The 30-year-old man will remain on bail until Sept. 30, pending further inquiries.

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A crocodile rests inside an enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, Britain, on April 14, 2026. (Dorota Dee Trajdos/Reuters)

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“The man, who is not known to the victim, was ​assessed as ​not being ⁠fit for interview,” police said in a statement.

The boy is in stable condition, after reportedly suffering a broken arm and pelvis.

He was saved from the crocodile by Tracey Johnson, the wife of the zoo’s owner.

MOTHER JUMPS INTO WATER TO SAVE 4-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER WHO FELL BETWEEN CRUISE SHIP AND DOCK

 “I know Tracey very well and she’s a lovely lady and it’s nothing more than I’d expect from her,” a local told BBC News. “She’d always put her own life at risk to save someone else. She’s an extraordinary lady and very brave.

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The villager added that Johnson put herself in “immense danger” during the rescue.

The owners said their tropical house would remain closed until further notice.

Crocodiles rest inside an enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst farm and zoo in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, Britain, on April 14, 2026. (Dorota Dee Trajdos/Reuters)

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the boy and his family following the incident that occurred today,” the owners wrote on social media.

Johnsons of Old Hurst is a farm and zoo north of London in Huntingdon, England. (Google Maps)

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Huntingdonshire district councillor Charlotte Lowe said she couldn’t “fathom how it’s happened because they’ve got all the right protection and safety equipment, for want of a better word, in there,” The Guardian reported.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Cambridgeshire Constabulary for comment.

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Trump doubles down on Meloni photo comments

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Trump doubles down on Meloni photo comments

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US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his comments on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, saying she asked him “over and over” for a photo when the pair met at the G7 summit in France earlier this week.

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Following the summit, Trump told an Italian journalist that he “felt sorry for Meloni” after she “begged me to take a picture with her”.

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Meloni hit back in a video posted to social media, branding Trump’s claims as “completely made up” and insisting that neither she nor Italy begs anyone for anything.

The once close pair’s relationship has grown increasingly fractious in recent months, particularly since Rome refused to provide the US support for its operations in Iran and after Meloni defended Pope Leo XIV, who was criticised by the Trump administration over his remarks on the war and the US’s immigration policies.

“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Saturday. “She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon”.

“Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her “numbers up.” No thanks!!!” Trump added.

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