At least 21 children have died and dozens are in hospital after eating free meals at a primary school in the eastern India, officials have said.
The children, aged between eight and 11 years old, fell ill after lunch on Tuesday at the government-run school in Masrakh, a village 80km north of Patna in Bihar.
P.K. Sahi, the state education minister, said a preliminary investigation suggested the food was contaminated by phosphorous, which is used to preserve rice and wheat.
Bihar state official Amarjit Sinha told the Associated Press news agency that 27 children and the school’s cook were taken to hospital in Patna, the state capital.
Al Jazeera’s Karishma Vyas, reporting from the Indian capital, said eight children were in serious condition.
The meal was cooked in the school kitchen.
Nitish Kumar, the state’s chief minister, ordered an inquiry. Authorities have suspended a food inspector and registered a case of criminal negligence against the school headmaster.
Each of the families of the dead children are set to receive 2,00,000 Indian Rupee ($3376).
Al Jazeera’s Vyas said the free meals were supposed to give the impoverished parents an incentive to send their children to school.
“And in fact this worked. Studies have shown that this programme has directly increased enrollment of children in school,” she said.
“So it is extremely concerning that, after consuming this state-provided meal, 21 children have died and more are in the hospital.”
aljazeera
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