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300 taken ill after consuming food at religious event in India

Baku, February 21, AZERTAC

About 300 people, including women and children, were taken ill after consuming food at a religious event in India's western state of Maharashtra, officials said Wednesday, according to Xinhua.
The incident took place on Tuesday night during a week-long Hindu religious event at Somthana village in Buldhana district, 486 km northeast of Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra.
Officials said they received information over the telephone that dozens of people complained of vomiting, diarrhoea, nausea and uneasiness, following which they were rushed to a government health facility.
However, due to the paucity of space and shortage of beds at the hospital, the patients were treated outside the hospital building in the open.
Video footage aired on television from the spot showed patients lying on the ground being administered intravenous fluid from the bottles tied to ropes that were hooked to the trees in the open outside the hospital.
"Primarily it seems to be a case of food poisoning," a local government official at the district collector's office said. "Majority of the patients have been discharged and remaining ones are under observation at different hospitals."
Meanwhile, authorities have collected the food samples and sent them for examination and analysis.
A case has been registered and an investigation ordered into the incident, officials said.

World 2024-02-21 18:21:00