Picnic goes awry for 2 families, seven fall ill after swimming in pool

THANE: A day-long family outing at an Ambernath-based water park turned awry after seven members had to be rushed to a hospital after they started complaining of throat ache, rashes and vomiting.

Two families had gone together for a picnic to the resort. Some of the members went for a swim in the pool. After five hours, seven of them started feeing uneasy and got out of the pool. The victims were rushed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa.

The doctors at the TMC-run hospital said that the victims may have swallowed some of the chlorine water due to which they developed symptoms like food poisoning.

Dr. Rajiv Korde, medical superintendent at the hospital, said, "At 6pm on Sunday, seven patients were admitted to the general ward complaining of vomiting, nausea, itching of the eyes and severe throat infection. While questioning them, we found that they had spent an entire day in the sun and playing in the pool. It could have been the chlorinated water that caused the rashes and itching. It looks like a case of poisoning either due to water or food as the victims said that they had eaten something at the resort before entering into the water. We have administered treatment to treat the allergy and rashes. Fortunately, no one was serious."

Meanwhile, the management of the resort Shanti Sagar have denied the charge and have claimed that an inspection of the pool is conducted every evening.

Resort manager A K Rathod said, "We had 201 visitors on Sunday at the resort. None of them complained of any problems after taking a dip in the pool. These seven people were enjoying in the pool the entire day from 11am till 4pm. It was very humid which could be one of the reasons due to which they fell ill. After spending so many hours in the water, it is normal for the eyes to become red and heavy. It has a lot to do with one's immune system. But, I assure all the customers that every evening at 6pm we clean the water with alum."

This is, however, not the first such incident to have occurred at Shanti Sagar resort. The water park has received similar feedback from two other customers within a month. .