20 children die after eating school lunch in India

20 children die after eating school lunch in India

PATNA, India (AP) — At least 20 children died and many others were

sick after eating a free school lunch that was tainted by a heavy dose

of insecticide, Indian officials said Wednesday.



It was not immediately clear how chemicals ended up in the food in a

school in the eastern state of Bihar, though one official said the

food may not have been properly washed before it was cooked.



The children, between the ages of 8 and 11, fell ill Tuesday soon

after eating their school lunch in Masrakh, a village 80 kilometers

(50 miles) north of the state capital of Patna. School authorities

immediately stopped serving the meal of rice, lentils, soya and

potatoes as the children started vomiting. The lunch, part of a

popular country-wide campaign to give at least one hot meal to

children from poor families, was cooked in the school kitchen.



The children were quickly rushed to a local hospital and later to

Patna for treatment, said state official Abhijit Sinha.



In addition to the 20 children who died, another 27 children as well

as the school cook have been hospitalized, he said. Ten of them were

in serious condition.



Authorities suspended an official in charge of the free meal scheme in

the school and registered a case of criminal negligence against the

school headmaster, who fled as soon as the children fell ill.



P.K. Sahi, the state education minister, said a preliminary

investigation suggested the food had traces of an organophosphate used

as an insecticide on rice and wheat crops. It's believed the grain was

not washed before it was served at the school, he said.



However, local villagers said the problem appeared to be with a side

dish of soya and potatoes. Children who had not eaten that dish were

fine, although they had eaten the rice and lentils, the villagers

said.



India's midday meal scheme is one of the world's biggest school

nutrition programs. State governments have the freedom to decide on

menus and timings of the meals depending on local conditions and

availability of food rations. It was first introduced in southern

India, where it was seen as an incentive for poor parents to send

their children to school.



Since then the program has been replicated across the country covering

some 120 million school children as part of an effort to address

concerns about malnutrition. According to the government, nearly half

of all Indian children suffer from malnutrition.



Although there have been occasional complaints about the quality of

the food served, or the lack of hygiene, the tragedy in Bihar appeared

to be the worst associated with the massive food program.



Bihar's top elected official, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has ordered

an inquiry into the

deaths.