New Delhi: In a bizarre case of choking hazard, a man lost his life after he choked on a momo, a popular street food. Following his tragic death, AIIMS (Experts at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences) issued a warning to raise awareness of the chances of choking hazards due to the ‘slippery consistency’ and ‘small shape’ of a momo.
AIIMS forensic experts said momos, a popular street food, have a slippery and soft surface which can cause choking and even death if swallowed without chewing properly.
According to the AIIMS report, the man who was in his early 50s and drunk, was brought dead to AIIMS from South Delhi. Police investigations revealed he was eating at a shop when he suddenly collapsed and fell to the ground.
A post-mortem, using CT scan, found a dumpling lodged in the upper airway or the opening of the windpipe, leading doctors to conclude he died from choking on a momo.
Whenever a person eats anything that is too large to gain access into the food pipe and accidentally slips into the wind pipe, then it can lodge in the posterior hypopharynx (the bottom part of the tube that leads to the food pipe and wind pipe), resulting in blockage of the respiratory tract.
The steamed momos are one of the favourite street foods in Delhi. Momos have a slippery soft surface which can cause choking which can also be fatal if swallowed without properly chewing. In this particular case, the cause of death was concluded as neurogenic cardiac arrest due to choking of momos which was found to be located at the laryngeal inlet,” said Dr Abhisehk Yadav, additional professor at forensic department at AIIMS, author of the report.
