4 children of family hospitalised after consuming soft drinks, one dies

Of the four children of a family at Seplanatham near Neyveli, who all developed nausea after consuming a soft drink from a leading brand, died soon after admission into Cuddalore Headquarters Government Hospital on Sunday. Three other children have been later referred to the Jipmer Hospital at Puducherry, with the oldest put on a ventilator in the intensive care unit there.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested the shopkeeper, Nagarathinam, who sold the soft drink, and, on the order of District Collector R. Kirlosh Kumar, the shop and the godown of the soft drink distributor Babu at Vadalur have been sealed.

All the soft drink bottles belonging to the same batch have been withdrawn from 40 shops, located mostly in the rural and remote areas. It is learnt that Anjapuri, a labourer bought a bottle of soft drink at a Seplanatham shop and given to his children — A. Lalitha (9), A. Abirami (8), A. Kausalya (7) and A. Paramasivam (5).

Soon after taking the drink, the children complained of headaches and discomfort; they were rushed to the government hospital where Abirami died soon after admission.

The other three children have been subsequently referred to the Jipmer Hospital. Lalitha’s condition is said to be critical, while Kausalya and Paramasivam are recuperating at the general ward of the hospital.Deputy Director of Health Service J.R. Jawaharlal told The Hindu that he visited the Jipmer Hospital to ascertain the health condition of the children.

“Lalitha admitted in the ICU there has eye ball movement and also bodily jerks. However, she has been put on a ventilator and is under constant observation.”

He further said that what had occurred at Seplanatham was an isolated incident, as no other place in the district had reported any such incidents.

The samples of the soft drink from the shop as well as from the godown of the distributor at Vadalur had been collected and sent for test at the Guindy laboratory. Having come to know that the soft drink unit is located at Maduranthagam in Kancheepuram district, Collector R. Kirlosh Kumar has informed his counterpart of the episode.

Samples from the Maduranthagam unit too have been collected for testing. Only after getting the test reports the actual contents of the soft drink would be known.

Meanwhile, on the direction of the Collector the officials of the food safety wing have spanned out across the district inspecting the shops selling the soft drinks.