Three hospitalized in Olympia after eating poisonous mushrooms

OLYMPIA – Three people who picked, cooked and ate mushrooms that resembled ones they remembered from Thailand have been hospitalized, health officials said.

The two women and a man apparently ate Amanita pantherina mushrooms, a poisonous species that has a bowl shape when mature but resembles store-bought mushrooms when smaller, Thurston County public-health officer Diana Yu said.

They were taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital on Wednesday. Two were initially listed in critical condition, but all were expected to recover, Yu said.

The mushrooms came from the grounds of an apartment in Lacey where two of the three live behind the Chili Thai restaurant, where they work. Within three hours, they were stricken by vomiting and twitching, authorities said.

"They picked the mushrooms because they look similar to ones they could find in Thailand," restaurant owner Tommy Meelap said.

Yu and Meelap said the mushrooms were picked solely for personal consumption and that none was served to anyone in the restaurant.