BHUBANESWAR: Four children of a tribal family have died in Sapalaguda village in Orissa’s southern district of Gajapati after eating mango kernels for days together.

The victims have been identified as Talameri, aged seven, and Bismata Sune, Satan and Dras, all in their teens.

Official sources here said that the incident took place on Thursday night when the villagers were preparing to take them to hospital after their condition worsened.

At least five more persons in the village, all in the age group of 45 to 50, are now in a critical condition after continuously eating mango kernel paste in the absence of rice, the sources said.

Inquiries revealed that there are no roads leading to the village and one has to trek about 16 km to reach there. The village has about 15 families, all Kandha tribals. Most of them are landless. Since there was no work available, the starving tribals were surviving on mango kernels and wild roots for the past several weeks.

As their condition worsened, the village head reportedly tried to send them to the hospital. But it was too late, the sources added. The revenue divisional commissioner (RDC), district collector, superintendent of police (SP) and other officials and a medical team have rushed to the spot.