Teen dies, 3 kids inhosp after suspectedfood poisoning

Raipur: In an incident carrying chilling echoes of the deaths of four members of a Mumbai family after consuming a watermelon laced with rat poison, a 15-year-old boy died and three other children from the same family were hospitalised after consuming watermelon and chicken within hours of each other.The incident was reported from Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir-Champa district, prompting authorities into a scramble to test the watermelon sample amid suspicion of food poisoning.The administration sent watermelon samples for lab tests while the boy’s viscera was preserved for forensic analysis.Officials said contamination, improper storage or chemical residues could be possible causes, adding that clarity will emerge once the lab reports are in.Panic gripped Dhurkot village, about 8km from the district headquarters, after word of the death from suspected food poisoning filtered in.The children were spending their summer holidays at their maternal uncle’s house, their family members said, adding that the children partook of slices of a watermelon before having chicken at dinner later in the evening on Monday.Thereafter, they developed some aggravated symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea late at night.The 15-year-old, identified as Akhilesh Dheewar, succumbed on the way to hospital, while three others — Bhupendra Dheewar, Himesh Dheewar and a younger child aged four— were admitted to the district hospital. Their condition was said to be stable till the filing of this report.A civil surgeon at the district hospital said a preliminary examination on the affected children indicated that the watermelon was cut in the morning and consumed hours later, post noon, which may have resulted in an infection and food poisoning.“One child was brought dead early morning while the other three are stable,” said Dr Iqbal Hussain from the district hospital.It was further alleged that the affected children were initially taken to a quack, delaying proper medical intervention.