Over 1500 Fall Ill After Consuming Prasad on Mahashivratri in Madhya Pradesh Town

Bhopal: Close to 1500 people fell ill after consuming khichdi on the occasion of Mahashivratri in Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday.

Of these, 300 have been admitted to hospital.

Sources told News18 that at least 1500 villagers fell ill, complaining of stomach ache and vomiting after consuming 'prasad' (khichdi) of Shivratri at an ashram in Barwani on Tuesday evening.

Panicked, the locals and district administration officers rushed close to 300 people to nearby hospitals. The affected people belonged to seven villages. Given the sheer numbers of the victims, they had to be rushed to hospital in pick-ups, tractor trolleys and private vehicles.

“We deployed force to identify the victims and bring them to the district hospital, two private hospitals helped in this too. The situation is under control now,” Tejaswi S Naik, District Magistrate, Barwani had told the media.

The sudden incident also exposed the limitation of the health facilities in the district as the government hospitals had to erect tents in the open for treating a number of patients.

Large numbers of patients were referred to private hospitals where they charged hefty money for the treatment. The District Collector had made it clear that administration would make available additional facilities to those in critical condition.

He clarified that after administration received complaints of patients being charged for medicine at private hospitals, the health staff made available free medicine there. Large numbers of patients were recovering at hospitals till reports last came in on Wednesday.

(With agency inputs)