Container linked to school poisonings
Source: Agencies |
July 20, 2013, Saturday
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INDIAN police suspect that India's worst outbreak of mass food poisoning in years was caused by cooking oil that had been kept in a container previously used to store pesticide, the magistrate overseeing the investigation said yesterday.
Health officials in the eastern state of Bihar were expected to release autopsy results for many of the 23 schoolchildren who died on Tuesday after vomiting and convulsing with agonizing stomach cramps.
The children fell ill within minutes after eating a lunch provided by their school in the village of Gandaman. The free meals are part of a national scheme aimed at tackling malnutrition and encouraging children to attend school.
"Circumstantial evidence suggests that cooking oil was kept in a container which was previously used to store pesticides or insecticides," said Abhijit Sinha, district magistrate of Saran district. Gandaman is in Saran district.
"At the moment we cannot say whether it was deliberate or it was pure negligence," he said, adding that police were searching for the headmistress of the school.
He said forensic tests were being conducted on the mustard oil container, uneaten food and utensils to determine the cause of the poisoning.
It is not yet clear where the headmistress bought the food for the meals, cooked at a makeshift kitchen outside the school. Police said she left the village on Tuesday with her husband.
Health officials in the eastern state of Bihar were expected to release autopsy results for many of the 23 schoolchildren who died on Tuesday after vomiting and convulsing with agonizing stomach cramps.
The children fell ill within minutes after eating a lunch provided by their school in the village of Gandaman. The free meals are part of a national scheme aimed at tackling malnutrition and encouraging children to attend school.
"Circumstantial evidence suggests that cooking oil was kept in a container which was previously used to store pesticides or insecticides," said Abhijit Sinha, district magistrate of Saran district. Gandaman is in Saran district.
"At the moment we cannot say whether it was deliberate or it was pure negligence," he said, adding that police were searching for the headmistress of the school.
He said forensic tests were being conducted on the mustard oil container, uneaten food and utensils to determine the cause of the poisoning.
It is not yet clear where the headmistress bought the food for the meals, cooked at a makeshift kitchen outside the school. Police said she left the village on Tuesday with her husband.
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