ORISSA: 2 DIE AFTER EATING KERNEL GRUEL

At least two persons died and six others fell ill, some of them seriously, after consuming Mango kernel gruel at Sipijodi village, nearly 40 km from the district headquarters of Rayagada in Orissa. The six people who complained of headache and suffered from diarrhoea after consuming the contaminated mango kernel gruel have been admitted to a community hospital in the Kashipur block of the district. Reports said that while a minor boy had died on Thursday, a 60- year- old man passed away in the hospital on Saturday. The deceased were identified as Ranjan Kumar Majhi, 13, and Shiva Majhi, 60. Ranjan’s parents were among six people to have been admitted to hospital. The villagers in Sipijodi, a tribal- dominated village, had on Thursday consumed mango kernel at a community feast. The consumption of mango kernels form a part of the traditional food habit of people in many villages in Rayagada.