Lizard in midday meal causes panic; 355 rushed to hospital

BANGALORE: A dead lizard in rice served during the midday meal at the Government Urdu Model Primary School, DJ Halli, created panic on Friday. About 350 children were taken to hospital after they complained of nausea and upset stomach.
The children were provided first aid and administered fluids at the Ambedkar Medical College, off Tannery Road. While 335 were sent home, 20 students of class VII are under observation.Their condition is normal, and they will be discharged on Saturday, doctors said.
Rice samples were sent to the Public Health Institution. Education department officers visited the school to conduct a preliminary investigation.
The lizard was nowhere to be seen when TOI visited the school. School authorities said they had thrown it away. It was not clear if the dead lizard was already inside the 10-litre rice container or it fell into the vessel when it was opened.
The school has 850 students from class I to class VIII. It has 22 teachers and five non-teaching staff. Every day, the school gets eight cans each of rice and sambar from Iskcon for its midday meal.
“Meals were distributed classwise, and class VII students were supplied rice and sambar from the seventh can,” said principal Zareena Khanam.
Trouble begin around 12.20pm, soon after Reshma and Suraiya (names changed) showed the teachers a lizard in the rice container, and complained of uneasiness. The teachers immediately ordered all students to stop eating.
Flagging down an autorickshaw, teachers took three students to the Ambedkar Medical College, 2 km from the school. Doctors treated them and shifted one child to a ward to administer glucose.
Back in the school, more students, including those who had finished lunch, said they were feeling queasy. Three ambulances zipped between the school and hospital, ferrying 45 students.
Sensing that more students may fall sick, a team of 15 doctors from the hospital and the BBMP health centre rushed to the school. “Most of the children were fine; they imagined seeing the dead lizard and anticipated illness,” one doctor told TOI.
The news spread across DJ Halli, KG Halli, Shampura, Tannery Road and other areas, sending parents and guardians of the students into a tizzy.
“Everyone started bringing their children in, asking for treatment. None was affected in any way. We treated more than 300 children as outpatients and sent them back immediately,” Dr Parashuram, physician, at Ambedkar Hospital, told TOI.