3 children die, over 200 suffer food poisoning in Maharashtra’s Raigad

At least three children died and around 250 people fell ill, with several in critical condition, on Monday night in a suspected case of food poisoning in Maharashtra’s Raigad district after a dinner for a house-warming ceremony, officials said.

The incident occurred in Mahad area of Khalapur at the newly-constructed house of Subhas Mane, who had invited scores of people for the Vastu shanti ceremony and the dinner.

The dead have been identified as Pragati Shinde, 12, Rishikesh Shinde, 12 and Kalyani Shingote, 7.

“A dinner for around 500 people had been prepared. A little after the dinner started, young kids who ate first complained of nausea, stomach ache, giddiness etc,” a relative of one of the patients said.

“Soon, the elders too started to suffer from similar symptoms which led to the realisation that it could be a case of food poisoning,” he added.

Those complaining were initially rushed to Parvati Hospital in Khopoli, however, as the number of those suffering increased, the patients were shifted to Panvel and Navi Mumbai hospitals.

Doctors at several hospitals and police sources said an insecticide powder could be responsible for the food poisoning.

Mahad, around 170km from state capital Mumbai, is a pilgrimage centre and Varad Vinayak, one the Ashtvinayak shrines, is located in the town. It was also the capital of Maratha king Shivaji.