CHENNAI: Nine students from a government-aided Hindu Middle School in Poonamallee were hospitalised on Monday after consuming breakfast in which a dead lizard was found.
Teachers spotted the lizard in the food container while breakfast was being served and immediately stopped distribution. The nine students who had already eaten the food developed mild nausea and were admitted to Poonamallee Government Hospital. They are now stable and are expected to recover in a day, sources said.
Education department sources said the Tiruvallur district collector had inspected the kitchen, school and then visited the students at the hospital following the incident. The meal had been prepared by self help groups at a centre in Mangadu under the state’s morning meal scheme.
The social welfare department will hold an inquiry and take action against those responsible, sources added. “We are yet to ascertain if the lizard fell when the food was being made in the kitchen or at the school where it was being served,” the official said.
Meanwhile, breakfast distribution at other government schools in Poonamallee was called off after senior officials were alerted about the incident.
