CHENNAI: Social media was abuzz on Wednesday over the death of a class XII school boy allegedly after having ‘Kurkure’ and then consuming ENO, a liquid meant for gaining relief from acidity.
Music director James Vasanthan posted in Facebook account that a classmate of his son died on Tuesday night soon after eating ‘Kurkure’ and ENO.
Though the social media went abuzz with the kurkure-killing-school-boy post, it could not be verified what was the actual reason for the student’s death.
When Express contacted the hospital the boy was taken to, the hospital officials said that the boy was taken to their hospital on Wednesday and not on Tuesday as the Facebook post mentioned.
However, the hospital authorities were not able to comment on the reason of the death since the boy was found dead on arrival.
It was also not clear if any medico-legal case was registered over the student’s death.
Police sources said they were unaware of any such case registered. The grief-stricken family members were not willing to speak about the incident.
However, later in the evening, music director James Vasanthan removed the Facebook post. Vasanthan clarified that he was removing the post on request of the deceased boy’s family members and to honour their privacy.
“Just to clarify on the status I updated today. It is true. But I had to remove it due to a request from the family. They wanted their privacy and I honoured it,” the post read.
Meanwhile, the Spokesperson of Pepsico released a statement regarding the incident. “We are extremely saddened by this tragic news and our sincere condolences are with the family. However, the linking of the demise with Kurkure is factually incorrect and baseless.
Safety of our consumers is paramount and we would like to assure all our consumers that our products, including Kurkure, are safe for consumption.They are made from the highest quality kitchen ingredients and comply with all the necessary safety and regulatory norms in India,” he said.