Five members in a family from Hung Yen Province, northern Vietnam have died so far following a meal in late December, with investigators still struggling to determine the reason behind their demise.

The People’s Committee in Ngoc Thanh Commune, Kim Dong District confirmed on Sunday that the fifth victim had passed away at the hospital on Saturday.

Police investigation showed that Nguyen Tien San, 50, and his wife invited their two daughters to their home in Kim Dong District for a meal on December 26.

Their first daughter – 28-year-old Nguyen Thi Tuoi – came with her two children aged nine and three.

Meanwhile, the second daughter – 26-year-old Nguyen Thi Tinh – arrived with her husband and their two children aged five and three.

Following the meal, Tuoi, Tinh, and their family members returned to their own homes.

Later that day, Tuoi and her nine-year-old son as well as Tinh and her five-year-old son experienced stomachache, vomiting, and convulsion.

They were taken to local hospitals for emergency treatment, but the two young boys died a few hours later.

Tuoi passed away on December 28, while Tinh died on December 29.

Tuoi’s husband, Nguyen Van Dung, who did not attend the meal on December 26, fell into a coma on December 28 after he had organized the funeral for his son and retrieved the body of his wife.

Despite doctors’ efforts, Dung took his last breath on Saturday.

Colonel Nguyen Thanh Truong, director of Hung Yen’s Department of Public Security, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Sunday that officers were still working to identify the cause of the victims’ deaths.

The autopsy and blood tests have not showed any abnormal signs as yet, Col. Truong added.

Family members said they were just having a usual lunch that day and asserted that food poisoning was not the cause.

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