At least three members of a family have died, and three others have been hospitalized, after eating a traditional Christmas cake — months after the baker's husband died from food poisoning.

Civil Police are investigating the peculiar deaths after arsenic was found in blood tests conducted on two of the surviving family members and one who perished.

A festive gathering in Brazil turned tragic with the deaths of three women, suspected to be poisoned by a homemade Christmas cake. Investigations revealed arsenic in the victims' systems and expired food at the scene.

Zeli Terezinha Silva dos Anjos, from Torres, Brazil, prepared a traditional "Bolo de Natal" Christmas cake for a festive family meal on December 23 - but her sisters and niece died after eating it

Zeli Terezinha Silva dos Anjos, aged 61, from Torres in southern Brazil, made a traditional Christmas cake for her family’s festive meal on December 23. Tragically, shortly after eating the cake, her sisters Maida, 57, and Neuza, 65, along with Neuza’s daughter Tatiana, 43, died.

Three family members have died after eating a traditional Christmas cake reportedly containing arsenic at a festive gathering in Brazil. Police are now investigating the deaths and plan to exhume the body of the cake maker's husband,

After three family members died from eating the traditional home-made cake, the body of the baker's dead husband who died of food poisoning early this year will be exhume

This is the woman who baked a ‘poisoned’ Christmas cake that is believed to have killed her two sisters and a niece. Zeli Terezinha Silva dos Anjos, 61, prepared the festive treat for a family meal in Torres,