Students fall ill after eating mid-day meal again in Thakurgaon, 29 hospitalised

Students have fallen ill after eating mid-day meal food once again in Balia­dangi, Thakurgaon. After eating food at Maharajpur Government Primary School in the upazila on Thursday noon, 29 students fell ill one after another and were taken to the upazila health complex.

According to locals, as on other days, mid-day meal food was served among the school students at noon on Thursday. The menu included eggs along with other food items. Shortly after eating, several students began to feel unwell. They showed symptoms such as severe stomach pain, vomiting and dizziness. They were later quickly taken to Balia­dangi Upazila Health Complex.

Balia­dangi Upazila Primary Education Officer Atul Chandra Ray said treatment of the sick students is underway. It is primarily believed this may have happened due to a food allergy. The matter will be looked into and necessary measures taken.

After the incident, concern has arisen among other students and guardians of the school. Questions have been raised over whether the students fell ill due to the quality of the food or some other reason.

Earlier, on September 21, 34 students of three schools in Balia­dangi fell ill after eating mid-day meal food. With such an incident occurring again in the same upazila within a few days, fresh concern has arisen over the safety of food served to students.