Bihar mid-day meal tragedy: Children are slowly stabilizing, say doctors

Doctors attending to the children presently recuperating at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) here on Thursday said that the condition of most kids was now improving.

PMCH Superintendent Dr. Amarkant Jha, who assessed the health condition of the children here, said that apart from one child, who was still critical, the condition of all other children was stable and improving.

"All the children are slowly stabilizing. A total 27 patients were brought to this hospital, of which two died. Among the remaining 25, one is a lady and the rest are children. Of the 24 children, 23 are completely out of danger, one is still critical, his condition is a little better today, but we hope his health improves tomorrow. But 24 are completely out of danger," he told the media here.

25 children have died so far after eating a free mid-day meal at their school in Bihar's Chhapra district on July 16.

Several children are undergoing treatment at the Patna Medical College and Hospital. They were admitted to the hospital after consuming mid-day meals served to them at a government primary school in Dahrmasati village, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Mashrakh Block, about 25 kilometers from Chhapra on Tuesday.

The children are aged between 8 and 12 years. They fell ill soon after eating the meal which consisted of rice, pulses and soybeans.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident.

Nitish Kumar has also announced a compensation of two lakh rupees each to the families of the deceased. The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry had earlier sent a senior official to Chhapra to take stock of the situation.