Karnataka - Hassan   

36 ill after eating contaminated food

HASSAN: As many as 36 children from the district were taken ill after eating contaminated food on Saturday. Of them, 22 are from a school in Mugaluru village in Arkalgud taluk and 14 from the government girls hostel in Devaramuddanahalli of Holenarsipur taluk.

In the Mugaluru village incident, a gas cylinder was stolen and hence food was prepared using logs of wood.

On Saturday, the cooks brought black gram, (kadale) although the Government had provided them with tur dal.

The cook poured a large amount of kerosene onto the logs of wood as they were wet. A little kerosene found its way into the cooking utensil and the food was served to the students.

As school functioned for only half the day on Saturday, out of 81 students, many went home to lunch. As many as 22 remained in school and fell ill after eating the food.

Rekha, a student, told officials that they had informed the cook about the kerosene in the food, but the latter ignored their complaint.

All the 22 students were rushed to the Government Hospital in Konanur. They were discharged on Sunday. Their parents, who came to the school on Saturday, demanded the dismissal of the cooking staff. MLA A. Manju visited the hospital and directed the Block Education Officer to conduct a detailed inquiry.

The incident that occurred at the government girls hostel in Devaramuddanahalli was no different. Here too the students, after eating lemon rice, went to school and fell ill.

They were rushed to the Government Hospital in Holenarsipur.

The students told presspersons that the cooks were not interested in their work. All the students are recovering.

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