8-year-old Kentucky boy dies after eating strawberries at school fundraiser: Reports

An 8-year-old Kentucky boy has died after eating strawberries at a school fundraiser, according to reports.

The Madisonville Police Department responded to call of an unresponsive child around 6:30 a.m. on Friday, according to local outlet 14 News.

The outlet is reporting that the child, whose identity has not been released to the public, had eaten several strawberries at a school fundraiser on Thursday. The boy started experiencing an allergic reaction and begin developing a rash. He was taken to the emergency room by his family but was brought home hours later. The next morning the family tried to wake the child for school, but he wasn't breathing.

The news outlet is also reporting that several other people went to a local hospital after eating strawberries at the fundraiser.

“While we were investigating, several staff at the hospital had advised that other people had came in to the hospital complaining of rashes and other ailments concurrent with some type of allergic reaction, and they had ate strawberries from this fundraiser,” the police department told 14 News.

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Kentucky Health Department investigates strawberries sold at the fundraiser

On Friday, March 15 the Hopkins County Health Department issued a statement warning people not to eat the strawberries from a local school fundraiser.

"The Hopkins County Health Department is issuing a caution advising citizens not to eat any strawberries purchased by the school fundraiser for Madisonville North Hopkins High School and Hopkins County Central High School athletics," Public Health Director Denise Beach said in the statement.

The health department says it will be testing the strawberries.

"Currently, the Department of Public Health Environmentalists are taking samples of the strawberries to the state lab for testing," Beach said. "Although, this incident could be unrelated, the decision has been made to exercise caution and advise not eating any of these strawberries."

The department is advising the school to dispose of an remaining strawberries from the fundraiser as they continue their investigation.

Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on the National Trending Team at USA TODAY. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, crime, health, lottery and public policy stories. Email her at aforbes@gannett.com. Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X @forbesfineest.