School Lunch Kills 22 Children in Eastern India
By Bibhudatta Pradhan & Kartikay Mehrotra - Jul 17, 2013 8:56 AM ET
At least 22 Indian children died and 25 others are being treated in the hospital after eating a contaminated lunch at a state-run primary school in the eastern state of Bihar, prompting violent protests.
The students, many of them less than 10 years old, and a cook fell ill yesterday after having eaten at the school in the province’s Chhapra region, local administration official Abhijit Sinha said by phone. All those being treated had been moved to the Patna Medical College, Manish Sharma, a local magistrate said. There were conflicting reports over whether the cook had also died.
The tragedy may have been caused by the presence of organophosphorus in the food, P.K. Sahi, Bihar’s education minister, said at a press conference in the provincial capital of Patna, citing the initial findings of doctors treating survivors. The school’s cook had expressed concern over the quality of the oil used to prepare the meal, Sahi said without saying where he got the information from. Organophosphorus compounds are commonly found in pesticides.
Provinces in India provide free lunch on school days in a bid to improve nutrition levels and increase attendance. India has the highest percentage of malnourished children in the world except for East Timor, according to the 2012 annual Global Hunger Index. The report, compiled by a group of non-governmental organizations including the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute, said 43.5 percent of Indian children are underweight.
more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-17/free-lunch-kills-20-young-children-at-school-in-eastern-india.html
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