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Thane: 38 children hospitalised with food poisoning after consuming mid-day meal at school
38 children from a school in Thane were hospitalised as they fell seriously ill after consuming the school's mid-day meal.
At least 38 children were hospitalised due to severe food poisoning after consuming the mid-day meal at a private school near Maharashtra's Thane, officials told PTI. The children, who were rushed to the hospital after falling ill, are now in a stable condition.
The children, aged between 8 and 11 years, were admitted to the civic hospital in Kalwa town after they complained of giddiness, nausea, headache and pain in the abdomen after lunch, according to medical officials at the hospital.
The incident took place at Kalwa Sahyadri School on Tuesday, said officials.
Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) Additional Commissioner Sandeep Malvi told PTI that all the children brought to the hospital are out of danger now and are responding to the treatment.
He confirmed that the children had eaten a mid-day meal at the private school. Another medical official said the students were served rice and moth bean (matki) curry as the meal.
"Samples of food served to students have been collected by FDA officials. It was immediately not known if matki was stale," officials said.
Read more: Underpaid mid-day meal workers turn to other jobs, schools in a fix
Initially, five children showed signs of sickness after eating the mid-day meal but the numbers swelled gradually. Ambulances were summoned by the school administration and the children were taken to the hospital. The parents of all the children were duly informed and reached the hospital.
The food samples from the time of the incident were collected from the school, and investigation is on the determine the cause of food poisoning in children.
Former corporator Milind Patil claimed that this is not the first time that the mid-day meal at the school has been the cause of concern.
Patil told Lokmat Times that there have been complaints regarding the hygiene of food in the past, including reports of insects in the mid-day meal. He also said that the school principal doesn't check the quality of the food before it served to the students.
(With inputs from PTI)
