50 fall ill in Odisha after eating food served from container with a dead snake

The incident happened during a community feast at Maa Shankatatarini temple in Chandan Nagar Deuli village under Pattamundai block of Kendrapara district where 30 families were having their meal.

At least 50 people from Odisha’s coastal Kendrapara district, most of them women and children, were taken ill after they consumed food from a container that had a dead snake in it, said an official on Thursday.

The presence of the dead snake was detected during the washing of the utensils. (AFP Representative Image)

The incident happened during a community feast at Maa Shankatatarini temple in Chandan Nagar Deuli village under Pattamundai block of Kendrapara district where 30 families were having their meal. Many of the people were hospitalised after they started to vomit, said the official.

“They showed signs of food poisoning. However, many of them were discharged after administration of intravenous fluid,” said the medical officer of Pattamundai Sub Divisional Hospital, Chandra Sekhar Das. The community feast was organised by a women self help group of the area.

The presence of the dead snake was detected during the washing of the utensils. According to the locals, it was a one feet long snake, but a non-poisonous one.

“We were shocked when we found the dead snake. It seems the snake was not cooked, but fell afterwards. But it was too late as most of us had consumed the food,” said a villager.