Deoria school food poisoning case: 45 students discharged from hospital, 15 under observation

DEORIA: Forty-five students, who were hospitalised after food poisoning incident at their state-run schools, have been discharged while 15 continue to remain under observation but are in stable condition, officials here said on Thursday. Around 80 students from the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Ashram School in Mehroona village had fallen ill with symptoms of stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhoea after eating the school meal, and were hospitalised on Monday.

One of the students, Shivam Yadav (15), had died on Wednesday after he was shifted to a hospital in Gorakhpur for better treatment, according to officials. Till 4 pm on Thursday, 45 students who were admitted to the Maharshi Devraha Baba Medical College were discharged.

Health update on admitted students

"Only 15 students are now admitted and they are completely healthy. It is expected that they will also be discharged by Friday," chief medical officer Rajesh Jha said. Meanwhile, local BJP politicians condoled the passing away of the 15-year-old schoolboy. "In this case, an investigation is being conducted and whoever is found guilty will be punished with the strictest legal action," local BJP functionary Santraj Yadav said.

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The school, which provides residential-based free education to meritorious students from financially weaker sections of society, is being run by the Social Welfare Department of the state. Currently, 94 such schools are functional in the state, according to an official website. The district administration has lodged an FIR with the police and also started a magisterial probe over the incident besides cancelling the licence of the mess contractor. The FIR has been registered against the mess contractor under BNS sections 105 (culpable homicide), 125 (act endangering life of others) and 271 (spreading infection), among others, police said.