As many as 16 students fell ill allegedly after consuming contaminated water at the Kuntala Government Ashram School in Neeradigonda mandal of Adilabad district on Friday, August 19.

The students, after they complained of stomach pain and vomiting, were shifted to hospitals for treatment.

According to sources, 14 students were shifted to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Adilabad, one student was shifted to a hospital in Nirmal and another to Neeradigonda Primary Health Centre. A team of health officials collected water samples from the school and sent them to laboratory for testing.

Meanwhile, Rathod Bhagyasri, a Class VI student of the school, died while undergoing treatment for viral fever at a hospital in Echoda on Thursday night. The parents of the girl alleged negligence by the school administration caused her death.

Following the incident, the students' union leaders demanded that the State government should organise medical camps in all the schools as viral infections are on the rise.

In another incident, around 10 students of the Chandpelli Ashram School were admitted to Bela Primary Health Centre following suspected food poisoning.

It may be recalled that Telangana residential schools are seeing a rise in cases of food poisoning in students. For the same, The Backward Classes Welfare (B) Department of the Government of Telangana had issued a memo constituting five teams to look into recent reports of food poisoning among students in government-run residential schools in the state.