14 workers die in Meghalaya after eating wild fruits

Fourteen migrant labourers were found dead in a remote Meghalayan village after they were suspected to have eaten wild fruits, police said on Tuesday.

The road construction workers from Assam died of suspected food poisoning after they ate wild fruits in the remote Saipung village, 144 km from capital city Shillong.

"The bodies of the 14 migrant workers were found on Monday. We suspect they died after they ate chutney made of wild fruits on Sunday evening," Inspector General of Police G.H.P. Raju told IANS.

He denied any foul play in the tragic incident.

"There is no evidence of any foul play, but we are awaiting the autopsy report for ascertaining the cause of death," Raju said.

Doctors conducting the post-mortem examinations said the dead men could have died of food poisoning after consuming a locally grown wild fruit, Soh Khuiatur.