Three held for death of 13 temple devotees due to ‘toxic’ food
new delhi — Police on Saturday arrested three people after at least 13 died of suspected food poisoning following a ceremony to celebrate the construction of a new Hindu temple in southern India.
Police officer Musharraf said that more than 130 sick people were recovering from poisoning in various hospitals in Chamarajnagar district of Karnataka state. The area is 180km south of Bangalore, the state capital.
Musharraf, who uses one name, said that Hindu devotees ate contaminated cooked vegetables and rice on Friday. They immediately started vomiting, complained of severe stomach pain and were taken to nearby hospitals.
Musharraf said eight of those hospitalised were in critical condition. He said three members of the temple’s management have been arrested and samples of the food sent for chemical analysis.
“Thirteen people have died so far and 93 others are hospitalised. Out of them, 29 are on ventilator support,” said K. H. Prasad, the health officer for Chamraj Nagar district where the temple is located.
“It is likely that some toxic substance got mixed with the rice. The samples have been sent for forensic testing,” Prasad told AFP.
Media reports in India said the suspected food poisoning was the result of pesticide contamination but police said it was too early to draw conclusions about the cause.
“We have sent the organs of the dead people and the poisoned food to the forensic laboratory,” Geetha MS, a senior police officer in the Chamarajanagara district where the temple is located, told Reuters. “Only after receiving the report can we say what went wrong.”
Several crows and dogs were also found dead after eating the food, Geetha added.
Murege Swamy, who attended the temple ceremony, said “they were giving us some offerings at the temple. It had a weird smell. When we asked what that was, they told us it is because of leaves in the offering.”
“As soon as we ate that, me and my friends felt a sharp pain in our stomachs and started puking,” Swamy said.
Sangeeta, who uses only one name, said she was lucky that she didn’t eat anything at the temple.
“Only a few were OK, but everyone else was vomiting immediately,” she said.
The Karnataka government would provide financial assistance of 500,000 rupees to the families of each of the dead, according to media reports.
Cases of food poisoning killing multiple people has been a problem in India. In 2013, 22 children died in a school in the eastern state of Bihar after eating food tainted with a pesticide that had been stored in a cooking oil container.