Two municipal employees were left traumatised after they attempted to save a dying woman who allegedly poisoned herself and her one-year-old son in Alexandra Park in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday morning.

The workers, who are still reeling from the shock of witnessing the young mother’s final moments, said they tried to revive the woman as she took her last breaths.

The 27-year-old mother allegedly fed her baby yoghurt laced with poison, which killed him quickly, before she ate some of the poisoned yoghurt herself.

The municipal workers, who did not want to be named, said they saw the mother and baby sitting on the grass in one of the more visible areas of the park at around 10:30.

Some of the vagrants had asked the mother what she and her child were doing in the park and she said they were okay.

“She then fed her child yoghurt out of a medium-sized container and later ate from the container herself,” said one of the workers.

The municipal employees said they had to walk past the mother and child to get to another area of the park when they discovered the mother lying on the grass and gasping for air.

The child was already unresponsive, they said.

“A few moments later, when we were passing by, we saw them lying there. The child was already dead and the mother was still alive. She was breathing heavily, gasping for air and her eyes were rolling backwards. We called the ambulance for help.

“We tried to wake her up and ask her what happened to the child but she was not responding to us. Whatever was put in the yoghurt must have been strong as the mother died while the paramedics were trying to resuscitate the child.”

The workers said a note with contact details of a close relative was found near the mother.

They said they are shocked and saddened by the deaths and such incidents do not happen at the park often.

“It was very traumatising. What was worse is that we found a note with the phone number of a [relative] and [a] request to inform them about the incident. We called the [relative] and they came to the scene. Once they arrived, we left to continue with our work as we were on duty, but we tried our best to help the mother and child,” said the employee.

KZN police spokesperson Nqobile Gwala told The Witness on Wednesday that a charge of murder was being investigated and an inquest docket had been opened at the Alexandra Road Police Station.