40 School students hospitalised after consuming Saraswati Puja ’Prasad’ in Jharkhand

Mangalore Today News Network

Lohardaga, Feb 11, 2019 : Over 60 school students fell ill after eating the ’prasad’ that was distributed after Saraswati Puja at a school in Jharkhand’s Lohardaga district, Yahoonews reported.

 

"So far 40 children have come here. One or two are in a critical condition. It is a case of food poisoning, we are treating them accordingly," NDTV quoted Dr SS Khalid of the Sadar Hospital, as saying. The doctor also added that most of those who fell sick are six or seven years old.

The children supposedly started vomiting within hours of eating the sweets, which were distributed after the puja. According to the NDTV report, the organisers claimed that nothing seemed amiss with the ingredients that went into making the sweets, at the time when they were bought.

The district’s education department has launched an investigation into the matter. "The administration is investigating, we will take action against whoever is found guilty. We will get the food sample examined to find out the cause," the report quoted the District Education Officer of Lohardaga, Ratan Mahwar, as saying.