Two siblings die, five family members critical after food poisoning in Gumla

GUMLA: Two siblings, including a 12-year-old girl, died while five of their family members fell critically ill early on Sunday morning after eating poisonous food at Shivsoreng village under Ghaghra police station of the district . A medical team is camping at the village as a preventive measure and look out for any outbreak of food poisoning in the area.

The deceased were identified as Neha Tigga (12) and her brother Subodh Tigga (23). Those who landed in the hospital are Shalini Tigga (45), Pyari Tigga (18), Lalita Tigga (60), Prakash Tigga (28) and Parsati Nayak (21). While Neha died during treatment at sadar hospital in Gumla, Subodh died at Rims in Ranchi, officials said.

According to the officials, the family had cooked and eaten meat on Saturday night and all started falling ill at midnight. After their neighbours came to know about the incident, they took them to the Sadar hospital after which, Subodh and one of his family members were referred to Rims.

Ghaghra police station officer in-charge Upendra Mahto said termite power was found from house of the family, but said they are waiting for the autopsy report.

Deputy superintendent of sadar hospital, Dr R N Yadav, said, “The family members fell ill after consuming poisonous food. Only after an autopsy, the actual cause can be ascertained.”

In another food poisoning case, around 35 people fell ill after consuming 'prasad' during Saraswati Puja at a private school in Sadar police station area of Lohardaga district on Sunday. All of them have been admitted to the district hospital and are said to be out of danger. Lohardaga deputy commissioner Akansha Ranjan said the administration has taken samples of the eatables served in the school for testing. She added that action would be initiated against the school management if needed. The officer, however, didn’t reveal the name of the school.