Students at a school in rural India died or became extremely ill after consuming a school lunch that was laced with insecticides Tuesday.
By Wednesday, 23 children ages 5-12 had died from the lunch meal of rice, potatoes, soybeans, and lentils. Many other children are still in the hospital because of illnesses from the food. Officials think that the rice had gotten insecticides in it and was not properly cleaned.
The school, in the state of Bihar, is 80 miles north of Patna, the state capital. The cooks, Manju Devi and Pano Devi, say that the principle of the school is in charge of the daily lunches that they receive from the government. She allegedly ignored the cooks concerns that the food she gave them seemed different that day and told them to go about their cooking. Police are now searching for the principal, who fled after students started getting ill.
Business Week reports that the school receives meals daily from a government program called the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, used to feed the poorest schools of India who cannot afford their own meals.
According to Huffington Post a forensic lab will run further tests on the deceased children Friday, which will give the public more answers.
Due to similar problems with contaminated food at schools happening in India recently, the government says they will arrange another committee to monitor the meal programs along with the one that already does.