BENGALURU: After a lizard was found in dinner being served at
Bala Mandir –the
boys observation home of the Karnataka
department of women and child development at
Hombegowda Nagar, 103 inmates of the home were rushed to a nearby hospital on Sunday night. Out of them, six children were diagnosed with food poisoning.
Hospital authorities pointed out that the condition of all 103 children was stable, as of Monday evening.
According to
Tanusree Debbarma, director,
child protection, department of women and child development, a lizard was spotted in the "sambar" being served to children, on Sunday night, after which the children were rushed to the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health in Siddapura.
A preliminary enquiry was conducted by officials of the department, on Monday.
"While the food was being served, one of the children spotted a lizard in the sambar, as per preliminary reports supplied by the department’s officers on the ground. We then rushed all the children to a nearby hospital as a precautionary measure," said Debbarma, while speaking to TOI.
"A more detailed investigation will be conducted into the matter," she added.
According to officials in-charge of the observation home, the children complained of stomach pains and vomiting after having dinner around 8:30 pm, on Sunday. Hospital authorities meanwhile
"Six children were diagnosed with a mild case of food poisoning and when they were brought to the hospital on Sunday night, showed symptoms of abdominal pain and vomiting while the rest of the children who were panicking were made to undergo routine checkup and were kept under observation on their insistence. Out of the six, three children were diagnosed with gastroenteritis while 97 children were brought here just as a precautionary measure. All the children will be discharged later in the evening today," said the Resident Medical Officer (RMO) of Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health in Siddapura.