20 children dead, 30 hospitalized after eating school meals in Indian village
At least 20 children have died and more
than 30 others have been hospitalized after eating free school lunches
in northeastern India's Bihar state, according to a district official.
Since a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2001, all government schools in India have been required to provide free meals to students below the age of 13
Speaking on CNN's sister
network CNN-IBN, district magistrate Abhijit Sinha said an inquiry into
the deaths had been launched and samples of the midday meal sent for
testing.
CNN-IBN reported that the
children, ages between 8 and 12, were from Dharamsati, a village in
Saran district, Bihar state. It said their deaths on Tuesday had
triggered violent protests in Chhapra, the headquarters of Saran
district, the following day, and a call from politicians for a general
strike.
Madhusudan Paswan,
Saran's district education officer, told CNN that 31 of the affected
children had been sent from the local Sadar Hospital to Patna Medical
College Hospital in the state capital on Tuesday night.
CNN-IBN quoted Bihar's
Education Minister PK Sahi claiming the deaths were a clear result of
poisoning, and a probe would determine whether the contamination was
accidental or deliberate.
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