34 kids take ill after eating stale cake

A surprise party for their teachers landed 34 students of a coaching class at Ghatkopar in hospital on Sunday. Three of the teachers, for whom the Teacher’s Day celebrations had been planned, also took ill after they all ate cake ordered from a nearby bakery.

A surprise party for their teachers landed 34 students of a coaching class at Ghatkopar in hospital on Sunday.

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Three of the teachers, for whom the Teacher’s Day celebrations had been planned, also took ill after they all ate cake ordered from a nearby bakery. The students and teachers were admitted to Rajawadi Hospital and were discharged on Monday.

Rajesh Surendra Anand, the owner of USA coaching classes near Ramai police chowkie in Pant Nagar, and teachers and students assembled in the Ramai school hall to celebrate Teacher’s Day at 8 pm on Sunday.

The students, aged between 8 and 13, had arranged for a cake from the nearby Hari Om sweet mart. Trouble started at around 8.30 pm minutes after 32-year-old Anand cut the cake and the students and teachers ate it.

A few students started complaining of stomach ache and nausea. When a few of them started vomiting, it created panic. Parents were informed and the children and teachers were rushed to Rajawadi Hospital.

"The patients were given Cyclopam injections and were kept under observation. “They were discharged on Monday afternoon and are doing well," said Girish Ambe, executive health officer of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

Assistant police inspector K.M. Kasar from Pant Nagar police station, said: “The students and teachers suffered food poisoning after eating stale cake. We have arrested Rajaram Choudhary (50), the owner of Hari Om sweet mart from where the cake was bought and the supplier of the cake, Shamsul Hasan Ahmed (38). The rest of the cake samples have been sent to the Food and Drug Administration office for tests.”

When the surprise went horribly wrong

They had ordered cake as a surprise for their teachers on Teacher’s Day, but their gesture backfired, landing many of them in hospital. The students of U.S.A coaching classes at Pant Nagar secretly collected money to buy snacks, soft drinks and cake for their teachers. They booked a hall in a nearby school on Sunday because the coaching class premises were in use. Rajesh Surendra Anand, the owner of the coaching classes, told Hindustan Times, “It was such a pleasant surprise. The students had arranged for everything at a school hall nearby without any of us getting a whiff of it.”

The cheer, however, lasted only until Anand cut the cake. Minutes after they had eaten the cake, 34 students and three teachers started complaining of stomach ache and vomiting. Anand’s three-year-old daughter and his wife, Simran (24), who attended the party, also took ill. Anand, his wife and

daughter were taken to a private hospital, while the others were admitted to Rajawadi Hospital. They were all discharged on Monday.

Nikhil Ahire, father of 13-year-old student Priyal Gunjal, said: “Luckily, it was nothing major.”

Mohamed Thaver