Gwalior: Over 100 students Fall Sick Due To Food Poisoning; ‘Paneer’ The Prime Suspect

New Delhi: More than 100 students of Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education (LNIPE) in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior fell ill due to suspected food poisoning after eating paneer, on Tuesday night. Out of the 100 students, around 70 were given medication, over 25 were put on IV drips and one to two students have been shivering and are being given the right treatment, LNIPE registrar Amit Yadav told news agency PTI.

The students were rushed to the government-run Jayarogya Hospital on Tuesday night. Jayarogya Hospital Superintendent Dr RKS Dhakad told news agency ANI that one of the students was in a serious condition and was on the ventilator. The students are aged between 18 to 25 years.

Dhakad said, “By god’s grace, we have had no loss of lives. One is serious. He’s on the ventilator. Apart from him, the condition of five-six is also quite serious. They are being treated in the ICU. Our priority will be to ensure there is no loss of life and everyone recovers.”

“97 were admitted in front of me and their age ranges between 18-25 years,” he added.

Explaining the situation, Dhakad said, “Yesterday evening we got the information that this kind of incident has happened in LNIPE. We started all the preparations. Our staff remains prepared for such situations. We didn’t have enough beds. We made preparations for beds instantly from wherever we could.”

He added that around 11:30 pm on Tuesday night, all the students were settled inside the hospital and the doctors began treating them, adding that “Everyone is being treated. In their initial symptoms, they were vomiting, having cramps, breathing issues, and nausea. These seemed like symptoms of food poisoning. But we will know this only after the food that they had is tested.”

The students consumed a paneer (cottage cheese) dish in the mess and the food was being examined, according to PTI.

Dhakad said that the next steps would be to ascertain the condition of the student on the ventilator and those in the ICU. “As per their current condition, we will think of what to do next.” The hospital will be sending a report to Gwalior’s commissioner, who will further send it to the government officials, he said, according to Hindustan Times.