26 children taken ill after mid day meal at a middle school in Pendra village in Bilaspur

BILASPUR: Over two dozen children, including 16 girls, were taken ill after the mid-day meal in a government middle school in a village under Pendra block, about 150km from here, on Monday afternoon.
When contacted, Pendra police did not have any information about the incident. Pendra TI Raghunandan Prasad Sharma sent a constable to village Sonbacharvar, about 15km in the forests from block headquarter Pendra.
Around 7 in the evening Sharma confirmed that 26 children, including 16 girls had began to vomit soon after having the mid-day meal at the government middle school of the village. He further said that the vegetable that was served to children was cooked in oil of kusum seeds, which might have triggered food poisoning in children.
Sharma added that all the children were admitted to the primary health centre at Amadand near the village, while two girls, were referred to hospital at Pendra by Dr Prabhu Kumar Choudhary of the primary health centre. Condition of the children being treated at Amadand primary health centre was said to be stable.
In the meanwhile, block education officer has suspended the self help group, Saraswati Swayamsahayat Samooh, which was responsible for preparing the mid-day meal for the school.
SDM, block medical officer, block education officer and other officials have rushed to the Amadand primary health centre to check up on the admitted students.