80 students hospitalised after eating biscuits in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

At least 80 students from a district council school in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district were hospitalised after eating biscuits given in a nutritional meal programme.

The children began experiencing nausea and vomiting around 8.30 am on Saturday at the Keket Jalgaon village school, according to local officials.

The local officials said the village head and officials from the administration rushed to the school soon after they were informed and arranged transportation for the affected students.

The students were taken to the nearby rural hospital for treatment, and their condition is currently stable.

Around 8.30 am on Saturday, nearly 257 students reported symptoms of food poisoning after eating the biscuits. Of these, 153 were brought to the hospital and some were treated and sent home, India Today reported quoting Dr. Babasaheb Ghughe, a medical officer at the rural hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

Ghughe said that seven students who developed severe symptoms were transferred to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Civil Hospital for further treatment.

The school has 296 students, and an investigation into the cause of the food poisoning is currently underway.

Earlier this month, more than 80 children staying in the hostel of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Ashram School in Mehroona village had fallen ill with symptoms of stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhoea after eating the school meal, PTI reported.

A student, Shivam Yadav (14), died during treatment at Gorakhpur Medical College. Of the children who fell ill, 60 received treatment at Maharshi Devraha Baba Medical College, Deoria.

Later, the contractor of a school hostel mess, Rajesh Kumar Gupta, a resident of Chauri Chaura, Gorakhpur, was arrested from near Padrimal Mor on Baikunthpur-Deoria road and sent him to jail, Utter Pradesh police said.

The school, which provides residential-based free education to meritorious students from financially weaker sections of society, is run by the state's Social Welfare Department. According to an official website, 94 such schools are currently functional in the state.