At least 17 hostel boarders of Ravenshaw University were hospitalised in a suspected case of food poisoning, after having dinner on Tuesday night, October 28.

As per sources, these students stay in the East Hostel of the university. After having dinner, initially a few of them complained of vomiting, stomach ache and loose motion, reported The New Indian Express.

Soon after, others too showed similar symptoms following which the hostel authorities took them to SCB medical college and hospital. They are all under medical supervision, and their condition is now stated to be stable.

A hostel inmate Biswajit Mahalik said they had been served chappati, egg tadka and bhaji for dinner. “After consuming the food, some students started complaining of loose motion, vomiting and stomach ache. Later in the wee hours of the day, more students showed similar symptoms,” he added.

Mahalik further attributed the incident to drinking water contamination at the hostel. “The water purifiers in the hostel are in a poor condition. Most of them are not working properly and we persistently face problem with drinking water,” he alleged.

Warden refutes food poisoning claims

Hostel authorities, meanwhile, refuted the claims of food poisoning among students. Warden of East Hostel, Sarat Kumar Rout said around 17 students have been hospitalised so far. “Although some complained of vomiting, the doctors treating them said none showed any such symptom after being admitted to the hospital,” he added.

Rout said around 180 students reside in the East Hostel, but just 15 took ill. “If it were a case of food poisoning, more students would have been affected,” he added. Regarding claims of drinking water contamination, he said the candles and filters of the water purifying systems had been changed recently. “However, the samples have been collected and sent for testing,” he informed.

Previous similar incident

A similar incident was reported on July 12 this year when over 30 students of the university’s New PG and Dharmapada hostels were admitted to SCBMCH after a suspected case of food poisoning.

Though the food and water samples had been collected and sent for examination, the university authorities could not cite the reason behind the incident.