Over 200 people taken ill after attending feast

PATNA: In an incident of suspected food poisoning, over 200 people fell ill after consuming fish and rice at a feast in Bihar’s Sheohar district on Wednesday, said officials.

Subdivisional officer (SDO) Ishtiyaq Ali Ansari said villagers fell ill after eating fish curry and rice served at a feast organised by mukhia candidate of Tazpur panchayat. They complained of abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting, said Ansari.

The SDO said most of the affected persons are undergoing treatment at the district hospital.

“There were over 500 people, including children in the party. We had fish, rice and sweets at the feast. As soon as we reached home, we developed diarrhoea and our condition deteriorated,” said Bindeshwar Das, 60, a resident of Tazpur.

Another resident, Radheshyam Manjhi, said he started vomiting two hours after having the meal.

District magistrate Sajjan Rajsekhar said, “Around 100 people were treated in the hospital for some kind of food contamination. The situation is under control now. No one is seriously ill. Suspecting a case of food poisoning, police have collected food samples to be sent for examination.”

A nine-member medical team was sent to the village to assess the situation on Thursday. So far, no action has been taken against the mukhia aspirant, identified as Ajay Kumar Singh.

This is the second major incident of people falling ill after consuming food at a feast in the last 24 hours. On October 19, a 10-year-old boy died and 40 others were hospitalized due to food poisoning in Muzaffarpur.