In a horrific case of food posoning in a Karnataka school that came to light on Thursday, three boys died and two others were in critical condition at a hostel in the Tumakuru — formerly Tumkur — district. The school, in which the children were studying, reportedly belongs to former BJP MLA Kiran Kumar, who has since been arrested by the police in connection with the case.
The deceased have been identified as Shreyas, Akansh and Shanthamurthy — all aged 15. They reportedly got food poisoning from dinner on Wednesday night at the hostel of the Vidyavaridhi International School. Their condition worsened overnight and they died in the hostel. Their parents were informed at 4:30 am on Thursday, and they rushed to the school but found their children dead there.
Two other students are currently undergoing treatment in the ICU of a local hospital. Their condition is said to be critical. There is not information of any other studetn falling ill.
CM orders probe
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has reacted to the incident and ordered a probe. In a series of tweets, he said: "Extremely pained to hear about the death of 3 students due to food poisoning in a private residential school, Tumkur. I have directed district authorities to conduct a swift investigation, determine cause of death & take action against those responsible [sic]."
Inside job?
There were 40 students at the hostel, and Kiran Kumar told local news outlets that he had dined with them on Thursday night. However, while he had eaten chapati, the students had reportedly consumed rice and sambar. Kiran Kumar said this is why he suspects that the food poisoning was an inside job.
'Something bluish'
The hostel in question houses students from Standard III to Standard X, and some of them have been quoted by local reports as saying that they saw something bluish in the sambar they were about to consume. That made them stop eating dinner on Wednesday night. However, the three deceased and two other students who are critically ill had already had their dinner by that time.
