Siliguri, June 17 (ANI): Reports of continuous deaths due to consuming litchi fruit in West Bengal have hit the sales of the seasonal fruit. Six children were reported to have died in the province on June 07 after eating contaminated litchi. Many other children were being treated in hospitals. The fear of virus and pest in the food has perturbed the people and forced them to choose other fruits to appease their palate, leading to a loss in the litchi market. Several municipalities under the Darjeeling district government have banned sale of litchi as a precautionary measure to control the virus from spreading further. Another fruit vendor, Sunil Kumar, said rumours about insect in mangoes are also doing the rounds and added that vendors are incurring losses with the unsold fruits rotting in storage.
