Hostel food poisoning: 20 more girls admitted overnight

Ahmedabad: A fresh wave of suspected food poisoning cases emerged at a girls' hostel in Memnagar on Sunday night, with 20 more students being admitted to Sterling Hospital, taking the total number of hospitalised girls to 38 within 24 hours.Hospital authorities said that after five girls were discharged on Monday morning, 33 students remained under treatment by Monday evening. All are reported to be in stable condition.Dr Sudhir Morad, medical superintendent of the hospital, said that despite being under treatment, three girls appeared for their annual college examinations. "They were taken to the exam centre with support staff and brought back to the hospital afterward. All admitted girls are stable," he said.The incident occurred on Sunday when 57 girls from the Patel community-run hostel were rushed to the hospital after suffering from severe diarrhoea, nausea, and vomiting for over a day. While most were treated and discharged, 18 girls with more serious symptoms, including low blood pressure, were admitted initially.Sources said that many of the affected students had consumed food items such as pani puri, dabeli, khichdi, idada, and sev khamni in the days leading up to the incident, raising suspicion of contaminated food.The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has issued a notice to the hostel management and collected food samples from the kitchen to determine the exact cause of the outbreak. Further investigation was underway.