57 students hospitalised after consuming mid-day meal at Pune school

“The students were immediately rushed to the rural hospital in Chandoli and they received immediate medical attention. Senior government officials visited the hospital and closely monitored the situation. Four ambulances were kept on stand-by but none of the students required any further referrals. All of them were discharged in the evening following basic medication,” said Chief Executive Officer of Pune Zilla Parishad, Ayush Prasad.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (Khed Division) Sudarshan Patil said, “The 57 students who suffered from nausea and stomach ache included both boys and girls from classes 5 to 8. We have spoken to people involved in the preparation of the meal and it is suspected that the utensils used for cooking may not have been cleaned properly, and maybe they had some remnant of the soap used for cleaning.”

“While eating the khichdi, some of the students could smell the soap and had told each other the same. We have reasons to believe that one of the utensils used for preparation may have had some remnant of soap. We have collected samples of the food and sent them for testing. An inquiry will be conducted into the incident,” said Khed Tehsildar Vaishali Waghmare.

Officials said the primary information suggests that the food was prepared by members of a self-help group from Ahmednagar, which also provides meals to other schools. “After the incident, supply of the mid-day meal from the agency to various schools was stopped immediately,” said an official.