30 students rushed to hospital after eating contaminated hostel food

NEW DELHI: At least 30 girl students were taken ill after eating the food served at their hostel here with one of them claiming she had noticed a lizard in the curry, with officials saying a probe had been ordered. The incident, which occurred in Jawahar Nagar police station limits, came to light when around 30 students complained about vomiting and dizziness after eating the food on Thursday night.

One of the girls claimed that she had noticed a lizard in the curry, which was then removed from the kitchen. The students were rushed to a nearby private hospital where one girl was admitted while the others were provided primary treatment. The incident occurred around 8 pm and Chief Medical Health Officer (CMHO) Jagdish Soni was immediately informed. However, he saw the WhatsApp message at 10.30 pm. By that time, the food had been thrown out without samples being collected for examination and the other students had been given freshly cooked food, Soni told PTI.

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A medical team visited the hostel on Friday and screened the 30 girls. Two of the girls who had vomited were cleared while the student who was discharged from hospital was advised admission for observation, Soni added. He added that the food safety team collected samples of raw food items and water from the hostel on Friday and a probe was underway. Circle Inspector at Jawahar Nagar police station Vasudev confirmed that the food the girls had eaten was thrown out and no sample was collected.

Kota City Additional District Magistrate Brij Mohan Bairwa expressed ignorance about news of the contaminated food being thrown out before sampling. Bairwa, who is the nodal officer of the district-level monitoring committee on coaching institutes and hostels, added that he had directed the CMHO to probe into the matter and submit a report within two days.