Mandya/Mysuru: The death toll in the Malavalli food poisoning incident rose to two as yet another pupil, a 12-year-old boy, died of multi-organ failure at a private hospital in Mysuru late on Monday night, after he was hospitalised on Sunday.
Class VI student Nemi Banti’s body was moved to KR Hospital for postmortem and later handed over to the authorities for further procedure. The authorities are in touch with the parents of the deceased pupil from Sohparu, West Khasi Hills in Meghalaya.
Earlier, a 13-year-old boy had also died of food poisoning.
Expressing his grief, Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma said, “Pained to learn the passing of another young boy from Meghalaya in Karnataka. My deepest condolences to the family. Our govt will extend ex gratia of Rs 3 lakh to the next of kin and also take care of the medical expenditure of all the ailing children. Our team is in Karnataka to assist the families in this difficult time. Prayers for their recovery.”
Mandya DHO Dr Mohan Kumar said 51 pupils had fallen ill. Among them, 11 were being treated at Malavalli taluk hospital, while 40 were under treatment at the Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences hospital.
Food bought from a Malavalli hotel is suspected to have been the source of the food poisoning. The food was first distributed among a group celebrating Holi and then among school students. “We expect to get the lab report of the food samples sent to Bengaluru in ten days,” the DHO said.
The district health department has dispatched its officials to three private hospitals in Mysuru city, where some more people are under treatment after they developed symptoms of food poisoning.
Naganna Gowda, the chairperson of Karnataka Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (KCPCR), will visit Mandya schools and meet the students on Wednesday.
Mandya SP Mallikarjun Baldandi said all other students who were down with food poisoning were on the recovery path, adding that the inquiry into the incident will continue.