india

Updated: Jan 01, 2019 08:14 IST

At least 103 children living at a home run by the Karnataka women and child welfare department in Bengaluru complained of feeling ill after eating dinner on Sunday night and were admitted to a nearby hospital, officials said. All are in stable condition and are set to be discharged.

With the incident coming just a fortnight of 16 people being poisoned to death after consuming prasad at a temple in the state’s Chamrajnagar district, the development had left officials on tenterhooks.

According to district health officer Prakash K, one child complained he had found a lizard in the food served at the home. “Seeing this, he induced himself to vomit out the food. Around five other children who saw the child vomit also threw up after that,” he said.

While all the children were admitted to the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Dr Prakash said that none of the children were in critical condition. “They were put under observation, are all stable now and will be discharged shortly,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru deputy commissioner BM Vijayshankar said an investigation would be launched into the issue. In a statement, he said that the food that was served to the children had been sent for further tests. Gastric juice and vomit samples had also been collected and sent for examination, he said.

“I have urged the authorities to investigate the matter and ascertain who was responsible for the incident and to bring those found guilty to book,” Vijayshankar said.