Two killed as food poisoning sweeps through refugee camp
● At least 200 rushed to hospital ● Charity blamed for ‘tainted food’
At least two people died and more than 750 are ill after mass food poisoning hit a refugee camp in Iraq, the country’s health minister said yesterday.
A woman and a girl died and at least 200 people were rushed from the desert tent camp near the northern city of Mosul to hospitals in the nearby city of Irbil.
An Iraqi politician who visited the camp and Saudi state television accused a charity from Qatar of providing the tainted food.
In Baghdad, Health Minister Adila Hamoud said 752 people became ill after a meal the previous evening at the Hassan Sham U2 camp, about 13 miles east of Mosul.
The food was meant for an iftar, a meal with which Muslims break their dawn-to-dusk fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. Ms Hamoud said at least 300 people remain in serious condition. She refused to speculate whether the poisoning might have been intentional.
Amira Abdulhaliq, from the United Nations’ refugee agency, said it remains unclear at which point in preparing, packaging, transporting or distributing the meals the food became contaminated.
“So far, we have received around 800 cases, around 200 have been transported to the hospitals in Irbil,” she said.
At midday yesterday, medics were treating patients in a large tent at the edge of the camp. About 20 to 30 patients, mostly small children, lay on blankets on the floor as several more serious cases were being ferried away by ambulances. At least one new patient was brought in during the day. Most of those afflicted were suffering from stomach cramps and dehydration, resulting from vomiting and diarrhea.
Iraqi politician Raad aldahlaki, who chairs the parliament’s immigration and displacement committee and who visited the camp overnight, said the meal contained rice, a bean sauce, meat, yoghurt and water.
He put the number of affected people at 850.
Mr al-dahlaki said the food was distributed by a Qatari non-governmental organisation, a charity known as RAF. He added that Iraqi officials were to meet those from the organisation later yesterday. The Doha-based charity did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
At a joint press conference later in the camp, Irbil police chief Abdulhaleq Talaat said seven people were arrested in connection with the incident. Mr Talaat said the food was prepared in an Irbil restaurant by a local NGO, Ain el Muhtajeen, under a donation by RAF. Dr Sabur Ahmed, head of Irbil children’s hospital, said 22 children remained in hospital while the rest have been discharged.
On Twitter, Saudi state television accused RAF of supplying the tainted meals and posted images it said showed the camp’s children “poisoned by the terrorist Qatari RAF organisation.”
Since a diplomatic crisis between Qatar and other Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia began 5 June, Arab media across the greater Persian Gulf have daily unleashed a series of highly critical reports on Qatar.
Those reports include highly provocative stories about Qatar allegedly trying to undermine regional security, often presented without attribution or evidence.
RAF is the acronym for the Qatar-based Thani Bin Abdullah Al Thani Foundation for Humanitarian Services, a charity that collects donations to do aid work around the world, including providing meals to needy families during the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Qatari government officials did not respond to a request for comment.
RAF is also among 12 organisations and 59 people put on what Saudi, Emirati and Bahraini officials described as a list of terror entities and individuals on Friday.