Deadly catch: Filipino vlogger dies after eating ‘devil crab’ on camera
A Philippine food vlogger has died after filming herself eating one of the country’s most poisonous reef crabs.
Ms Emma Amit, 51, who had more than 200,000 followers on her Instagram account, filmed herself foraging along the mangroves near her seaside home in Puerto Princesa, on the island province of Palawan, plucking snails and prying brightly mottled crabs from coral crevices.
In a video posted on Feb 4, she holds up one of the crabs – its shell splashed with ominous reds and browns – before dropping it into a pot of simmering coconut milk. She tastes it, smiles and continues eating.
The crab was Zosimus aeneus, known across the Philippines as the “devil crab”, a reef-dwelling species with flesh that contains a potent mix of neurotoxins, including tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin.
Marine biologists consider it among the most poisonous crabs in the Indo-Pacific. Cooking does not neutralise the toxins. In severe cases, the devil crab can paralyse the consumer’s muscles, shut down his breathing and kill him within hours.
According to Philippine broadcaster ABS-CBN, Ms Amit lost consciousness shortly after consuming the crab and was rushed to hospital, where she was pronounced dead two days later. A friend who had eaten the crab also died.
When village officials visited Ms Amit’s home in Puerto Princesa, they found a scatter of discarded shells in the rubbish. The shells were vivid and unmistakable.
