TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Prosecutors on Thursday (March 28) opened an investigation into a cook for negligent homicide (過失致死罪) and other crimes after 18 diners at the restaurant he worked at fell ill and two died.

Deputy Health Minister Victor Wang (王必勝) announced that following a forensic examination, the toxin bongkrek acid was detected in the blood of one of the deceased customers of the Taipei branch of the Malaysian vegetarian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam. Police on Thursday night questioned a substitute Vietnamese cook surnamed Ho (胡), who was working when the customers ate at the restaurant, reported CNA. 

As of 5 p.m. on Thursday, the health ministry had received 18 notifications of food poisoning tied to the restaurant in the Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store. Prosecutors ordered autopsies on the two deceased, while the health ministry announced bongkrek acid was present in one of them, marking the first time the toxin had been detected in Taiwan.

The Taipei District Prosecutor's Office on Thursday also met with the Criminal Investigation Bureau, the Taipei City Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division, and the Xinyi Precinct for the Taipei police to expedite the investigation. Prosecutors suspect that the restaurant chain's owner surnamed Li (黎), the branch manager surnamed Wang (王), and Ho committed serious offenses and have barred them from leaving the country. 

The Xinyi Precinct brought Ho in for questioning to better understand what ingredients were used and how they were cooked in the dish that sickened customers. Ho was then transferred to the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office for further questioning on suspicions of violating the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) and committing negligent homicide.