PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Chamba
A total of 35 persons are reported to have fallen sick after consuming food in a marriage programme near Chamba on Monday-Tuesday. According to officials, tests will ascertain whether the sickness was caused by adulterated food or contaminated water.
According to sources, people attending a marriage programme at a venue in Badshahithaul started complaining of stomach ache, vomiting and anxiety after consuming food at the event. The sick persons were taken to Chamba and to the Bauradi district hospital in New Tehri. Primary investigation by doctors revealed suspected food poisoning. About 35 persons were brought to the hospital for treatment with most of them comprising women and children. Most of the patients were discharged after improvement in their condition while about six persons are still hospitalised and are expected to be discharged on Friday.
According to the district hospital doctors, the condition of the patients is stable. Timely treatment prevented the condition of any patient from worsening, they said. Considering the seriousness of the incident, the Food Safety and Drug Administration officials swung into action. A departmental team collected food samples from the marriage programme and sent these to the laboratory for testing. The test results will reveal whether the persons had fallen sick due to food poisoning or due to consumption of contaminated water, officials said.
