AFP reports that six people died and more than 90 fell ill after eating endangered turtles in the Federated States of Micronesia.

The deaths, which included four children, occurred after a feast on the island of Murilo in mid-October where the rare hawksbill turtle was consumed, the Federated States of Micronesia’s public information office said.

It said government health officials and the World Health Organisation found the deaths were a result of chelonitoxism, a type of poisoning caused by biotoxins in turtle flesh for which there is no known antidote.