MOSCOW (AP) -- Poisonous mushrooms killed six people over the previous 24 hours in a southern Russian region, emergency officials said Friday.
A total of 36 people, including five children, have died from eating the toxic mushrooms in the Voronezh region this month, Emergencies Ministry spokesman Alexander Zalyotov said.
More than 200 others have fallen ill from eating bad mushrooms in Voronezh, 300 miles south of Moscow. Mushroom sales have been banned at local markets, and police patrol the forests for mushroom pickers.
Poisonous mushrooms are a leading cause of death each summer in Russia, where gathering the fungi for pickling or soups is a favorite pastime. Many people can't distinguish between edible varieties and the extremely poisonous mushrooms that can cause death with a single bite.