Toxic potatoes kill two children, five hospitalised

Lucknow: Two children died and five others were hospitalised in Uttar Pradesh after they consumed potatoes that may have contained too much pesticide, medical officials said Friday.

Lokesh, 5, and Sumit, 3, both of Salabad village of Bulandshahr district, died of food poisoning Thursday. Five teenagers from the same village took ill after consuming the potatoes that are believed to have been cultivated by local farmers.

"It appears to be a case of food poisoning. We have been told that the victims, who belong to three families in the village, had bought potatoes from local farmers who probably used insecticides to make the potatoes bigger and increase their marketability," Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Jai Singh told reporters Friday in Bulandshahr, some 400 km from Lucknow.

"Others who took ill after consuming the potatoes are being treated in the hospitals of Bulandshahr and Aligarh. They all are stated to be out of danger," he added.

The health authorities have sent a team of doctors and other medical staff in the village for timely treatment of other villagers who may have consumed the same toxic potatoes.

"Today, we have not received any case of food poisoning. However, the doctors and medical teams will continue to camp in the village for the next few days," said Singh.

"We have seized some potato stocks of local farmers. These have been sent for laboratory analysis," he added.
 

                                           Home | Top of the Page

Top Stories

Strong quake, tsunami hit Japan; 18 dead

A magnitude-8.9 earthquake hit northeastern Japan Friday, generating a tsunami as high as 10 metres that hit the coast of Miyagi prefecture, officials said. At least 18 people were killed. The Meteorological Agency said the quake was the biggest on   »

Richter scale - A 75-year-old system to measure quake

Six dead as quake, tsunami hit Japan

  Most Read

ATS haste that brought hell to an entire family

On March 06, few days before today’s hearing in the Special MCOCA court on the bail application filed by the Muslim youths charged in the   »

Court defers order on bail plea of Malegaon blast accused again

Thousands defy government, march for Telangana

Thousands of people from all walks of life violated ban orders and broke police barricades to participate in the 'million march' at Tank Bund here Thursday to intensify the movement for a separate   »

Students march to parliament for Telangana Friday

  News Pick

Indifferent, indolent approach to life make Muslims vulnerable: Dr. Zafar

Muslims are drenched in poverty and illiteracy not due to lack of funds available in the community   »

Sachar report divisive, says MP CM; Vows not to implement its proposals

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Wednesday categorically reiterated that his government would not implement    »

MPs, MLAs salaries should be cancelled for misconduct: Court petitioned

A 69-year-old man knocked the doors of the Gujarat High Court seeking cancellation of salary and other perks given to MPs and MLAs on grounds of their "misconduct and behaviour with  »

India launches Electronic Post Office

Crossing yet another important landmark in IT-enabled services, the government March 09 introduced electronic post office in the country. In what the government has termed as 'Postal Transactions Enabled Through Internet', it    »

Court orders pesticides tests on veggies in Delhi

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said: "We would like to find out as to whether pesticides are there in the vegetables sold in Delhi or not. It would be appropriate that the vegetables be   »

Picture of the Day

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh giving away the Degree to the Students, at the 3rd Convocation of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, in Jammu on March 04, 2011. Governor of Jammu and Kashmir N. N. Vohra and Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah are also seen.