By Youssef Sourgo
By Youssef Sourgo
Morocco World News
Casablanca, July 18, 2013
India has witnessed a sorrowful tragedy last Tuesday as 22 children died after eating a free school lunch heavily tainted with insecticide, a pesticide used against insects.
The students who ate the meal all felt severe pain and got seriously sick. Twenty two students were already dead before medical services arrived to hospitalize the rest who were in critical condition.
The free lunch, a part of an initiative dedicated by a school in the eastern state of Bihar to poor Indian children, consisted of rice, lentils, soybeans and potatoes, which were allegedly not well washed before being cooked.
The school administrators reportedly ordered for the meals to stop being served immediately after the students started vomiting. .
Besides the 22 diseased children, 25 students alongside the school cook were urgently hospitalized. “I started vomiting after eating soybeans and potatoes,” said 12-year-old Savita, as quoted by Huffingtonpost. “I don’t know what happened after that,” she added.
The schoolmistress reportedly fled as soon as the students started feeling unwell. Authorities subsequently registered a case of criminal negligence against her.
Instances of vandalism erupted subsequent to the death of the 22 children, as some community representatives burnt four police cars.
Investigations are underway to inspect whether the disaster was accidental or intentional. In both cases, some people will have to stand before the law for their negligence, which led to the death of the 22 innocent children.
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