4 dead, 22 in hospitals over suspected food poisoning

Rourkela: Four persons, three of them women, have died in the past 24 hours and at least 22 others are undergoing treatment in different hospitals in a suspected case of food poisoning after they attended a post-funeral feast in Nuadihi village under Hemgiri block of Sundargarh district on Thursday, officials said on Sunday.Among those dead were two persons from Nuadihi village. Raibari Pradhan, a 50-year-old woman, died at Hemgiri community health centre (CHC) on Saturday night, while Mangal Sai Nayak (60) passed away during treatment at Vimsar, Burla on Sunday morning.Two Jharsuguda residents, Ullas Khadia (40) of Sunakhain village and Sukanti Khadia (60) of Lakhanpur village, died Saturday night. While Ullas died at Jharsuguda district headquarters hospital (DHH), Sukanti breathed her last at Vimsar, Burla.Four others from the district are undergoing treatment at Jharsuguda DHH. In Sundargarh, 13 are currently undergoing treatment at Hemgir CHC and another five at Sundargarh DHH.Health minister Mukesh Mahaling expressed grief over the deaths with the govt ordering an inquiry to find out the cause of deaths.A team from the Sundargarh district health department visited Nuadihi village on Sunday and conducted an inquiry. Food samples were collected for testing to ascertain the reason behind the deaths.“The team carried out door-to-door survey in the village and tried to find the reason behind the suspected food poisoning,” said Suresh Chandra Mohanty, chief district medical officer and public health officer, Sundargarh. “The health condition of those undergoing treatment is currently stable,” he added.Sources said a number of people from Nuadihi and nearby villages in Jharsuguda district attended a post-funeral feast on Thursday. From Friday onwards, many of them started vomiting and complained of stomach pain and diarrhoea. Apparently, 54 people from the two districts were affected, with 47 of them in Nuadihi village alone.After receiving information, officials from Hemgiri CHC reached the village on Saturday and 28 people were admitted to the health centre. Out of them, six became critical and were shifted to Sundargarh DHH. Later, Mangal was transferred from the DHH to Vimsar, Burla, where he died.