More than 1000 people have been poisoned after eating toxic wild mushrooms in around 10 provinces in the west of Iran, head of Iran's Emergency Medical Services Mojtaba Khaledi said.

At least 15 people have died from the effects of the fungi and 116 more have been hospitalised out of 1017 poisoned.

There is no effective treatment for this kind of poisoning, Tasnim News Agency reports.

The mushrooms concerned look similar to edible ones. People have been urged not to buy loose mushrooms and only purchase those packed and sealed in shops.

According to BBC Persian, mushrooms can sometimes be seen for sale in the street in Iran, and local folk wisdom about which ones are safe to eat can be unreliable.

The deadly fungi grow wild in mountainous regions of Iran's west after spring showers, according to Tasnim.

News.Az