BARIPADA: As many as 35 girl students staying at the SSD girls’ high school hostel in Manatri under Mayurbhanj’s Badasahi block fell ill in the late hours of Tuesday due to suspected food poisoning.
Sources said the students had rice and vegetable curry for dinner at the hostel and went to bed. About an hour later, some of them began feeling uneasy and complained of abdominal pain, followed by vomiting and loose motion.
Within minutes, several other students began experiencing similar symptoms. As the number of affected students increased, the hostel warden shifted them to Manatri health centre for treatment.
The condition of some students reportedly deteriorated, following which they were shifted to the Badasahi community health centre (CHC), where a medical team was deployed to treat them. Doctors at the CHC said the affected students received immediate treatment and were stable.
The doctors said food poisoning or consumption of contaminated drinking water could be behind the incident. A medical team from Badasahi and the district headquarters hospital visited the hostel on Wednesday and collected samples of the food and drinking water for tests to determine the cause of the illness.
Mayurbhanj collector Hemakanta Say visited the hospital and took stock of the students’ health. The collector also inspected the Manatri SSD Girls’ Hostel, including the kitchen, dining hall and drinking water facilities.
The collector directed officials to submit the test reports of the food and drinking water samples at the earliest. He also directed the district welfare officer to conduct an inquiry and warned that strict action would be taken against anyone found negligent in discharging their duties.
