1,800 hospitalised after food poisoning in Maha district

Chhatrapati sambhajinagar: Nearly 1,800 people were admitted to hospitals early on Wednesday due to food poisoning after they had "bhagar amthi" at a religious programme in Nanded district in Maharashtra. Those affected people are from Koshtewadi, Sawargaon, and Risangaon villages in Nanded's Loha tehsil.

A day earlier, 250 patients were admitted to a hospital in Parbhani with complaints of food poisoning after they had "mahaprasad" at a religious ceremony. In the current incident, Nanded district administration, citing preliminary reports, said around 5,000 devotees attended "Balu Mama saptah" held at Koshtewadi on Tuesday evening and they had "mahaprasad" in the form of traditional "bhagar" and "amthi". Around 2,000 devotees began complaining of stomach ache, diarrhoea, and vomiting around 2 am on Wednesday.

Local residents helped the devotees go to the nearest hospitals in Koshtewadi. Former chief minister, Ashok Chavan, went to one hospital and spoke with the medical authorities, sources said.

Altogether, 750 people were admitted in the Vishnupuri-based govt medical college and hospital, 100 each in Loha rural hospital and a private hospital, 150 each in the district hospital and govt ayurveda hospital, while 500 were admitted to primary health centres in and around Koshtewadi.

Abhijit Raut, district collector of Nanded, told TOI: "We are monitoring the situation and have separated the patients who are elderly and have comorbid conditions from other patients, so that special attention can be given to them. So far, all the patients are stable."