A simple school task became deadly.
At least 22 children died and more than two dozen are hospitalized after eating food possibly contaminated with insecticide at a school in eastern India on Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Government officials and doctors reported on Wednesday, that children, between the ages of 8 and 12, became sick after eating lunch at an elementary school in Gandaman.
According to the CBS News, the meal included rice, soybean and potato curry. The meal was provided by the central government's "Midday Meal Program." The program aimed to ensure children at government schools get at least one free cooked meal a day. It's considered the largest school feeding program, involving 120 million children.
"The oil used to cook the vegetables was foul-smelling. We suspect the poisoning was cause by insecticides such as organic phosphorous," Amarjeet Sinha, Bihar's education secretary, said Wednesday.
Gandaman is a village about 65 miles from Patna, the capital of Bihar, one of India's poorest states. Shortly after eating lunch at around 12:30 p.m., several children began vomiting and some fainted, an official at Mr. Sinha's office said.
The children were initially taken to Sadar hospital in the nearby town of Chapra. They were later transferred to Patna Medical College and Hospital, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"The doctors tried their best to save them," Chapra District, Magistrate Abhijeet Sinha said.
An emergency meeting was held by Bihar Chief, Minster Kumar. He sent a team of forensic experts to the school to take samples of the food. It's unclear whether the poising was accidental.
According to government officials, the headmistress of the school fled afterwards.
"The food was stored in the house of the headmistress," Sujeet Kumar, district superintendent of justice told the Wall Street Journal. "She has been missing since the death were reported. But this doesn't establish her involvement in the tragedy."
Education minister M.M. Pallam Raju said one of the school's cook also died. The death toll of eight on Tuesday went up to 22 on Wednesday. Doctors in Patna feared the death toll death could rise.
The Bihar government said Wednesday it would provide a compensation of 200,000 rupees ($3,390) to families that lost children.
The exact determination of death will be known after the postmortem examinations and food sample test, doctors and states officials told the Chicago Tribune. Authorities have suspended a food inspector and registered a case of criminal negligence against the school headmaster. India is known to have more food-insecure people than any other country in the world.
