Deaths From Mushrooms Lead To Forest Closures

Emergency officials closed forests in southern and eastern Ukraine on Friday to keep people from picking poisonous wild mushrooms that have killed 133 people this year.

Doctors and government officials blame the record number of poisonings on economic hardship, which is driving Ukrainians to search the forests for free food.

More than 2,300 people have fallen ill from mushroom poisoning this year. Of the 133 who died, 48 were children, said Oleh Bykov, spokesman for Ukraine’s Emergency Situations Ministry.