Nearly 200 children from various schools in Kottarakkara who took part in the procession conducted as part of the Republic Day celebrations in Kottarakkara on January 26 were admitted to various hospitals with food poisoning.
Kottarakkara police and Food Safety Officials said that the sweets and the drinks supplied during the procession were contaminated and it might have caused diarrhoea, vomiting and stomachache among the children. A procession was taken out with students after the Republic Day flag hoisting on Kottarakkara Boys Higher Secondary School Ground. Various associations and voluntary organisations supplied drinking water and sweets to the children.
Ironically, this service turned out to be an agonising time for the students as nearly 200 pupils from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Boys HSS, Girls HSS, Mar Thoma HS, Valakom and Mar Thoma HS, Kottarakkara are still in hospitals with stomach pain, diarrhoea and vomiting.
The children started vomiting vigorously on Monday afternoon and were admitted to the Kottarakkara Taluk Hospital and various other private hospitals in the vicinity. There was a rush of children and parents to hospitals in Kottarakkara even on Tuesday afternoon. This created panic in the region and Food Safety officers, Police and other associations rushed to the hospitals to assess the situation.
In the meantime, Food Safety Officer A K Mini collected samples of water and food materials supplied to the students and sent them to the Government Analytical Lab in Thiruvananthapuram. “Most probably the poisoning was caused due to contaminated water or ice. We requested the Lab to get the test results at the earliest and once we get it the real cause of this mishap can be ascertained,” said Mini.
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