A two-year-old boy died and five others of his family fell ill after they ate puffed rice at their house on Friday night.
The deceased is Harish Somangouda Patil of Basaragi village in Savadatti taluk. The child along with his mother Rukhmini Somangouda Patil and eight-month-old sister Sunita had been to a relative Yalappa Rangappa Nayak’s house at Halloli village in Ramdurg taluk for vacation.
The guests and the hosts started vomiting and had diarrhea after eating the puffed rice. Arjun Rangappa Nayak (20) and Krushi Rangappa Nayak (18) are the others who fell ill. Their condition is now under control.
Harish died on way to the hospital. While the rest of the family members have been admitted to the district hospital at Ramdurg, Sunita, whose condition is said to be critical, has been admitted at the KLES hospital.
Doctors suspect that the puffed rice might have been contaminated by chemicals and it was probably not washed properly before cooking. Tests will be conducted on the puffed rice samples, the doctors said .