Meal at Petaro Cadet College: Food poisoning report expected in 2 days

College principal claims 60 students were affected, sources insist nearly 200 students fell sick

HYDERABAD:

A day after several students of Cadet College Petaro reportedly fell sick after taking dinner at the mess, the principal announced they have ordered an inquiry and are expecting the report in two days.

Some obscurity still surrounds the cause of food poisoning and the actual number of affected students. While the sources put the figure at over 200, the college administration confirms only around 60. The principal, commodore Mehboob Elahi Malik, said an inquiry has been initiated to ascertain both the facts.

At least 12 students were referred on Wednesday to Combined Military Hospital in Hyderabad from Sickbay, the college hospital. They were reportedly referred by Sickbay's Dr Afzal Abro. However, details about these students could not be known either from the Sickbay or the CMH as both avoided commenting on the issue.

"Between 50 and 60 students were taken to Sickbay," said principal Malik. "Their number reduced to 20 by yesterday [Wednesday] night. And now all of them are fine and no one is at the hospital at the moment." Two other students of class XI, TS* and MN, were shifted by their parents to Red Crescent Hospital in Latifabad town in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Their health restored and they were discharged on Thursday morning.

Seven children were reportedly brought to Isra University hospital in Hyderabad. "My son was unconscious when he was brought here," SN, father of a class-IX student, told The Express Tribune. He complained that he came to know about his son's health condition on Thursday morning from a friend of his son instead of the college administration.

"The college allowed students who were sick to go home so that their parents could help them get proper treatment," a college official told The Express Tribune, adding that at least 91 students were issued gate passes so that they could go with their parents by Wednesday night.

However, the principal denied that so many students left due to health issues. AN, the father of a class-X student admitted in Isra, said that he was not satisfied with the treatment at the college hospital so he shifted his son to them for better treatment. According to Isra hospital's Dr Younus, the children brought to Isra suffered from cramps, diarrhoea, vomiting or head ache.

The mess incharge, Idrees, said that it was either the kabab or the bread that caused the food poisoning. "We prepare all the food items in the college including the bread," he said. "Nothing is brought from outside." The food samples have been sent to the food lab for testing and the cause of the poisoning will be included in the inquiry report. A sick student's parent, who did not want to be identified, was surprised this happened. "The college administration is so strict about their diet that they do not even allow the parents to bring any edibles inside the college."

Petaro, the second oldest cadet college in the country after Cadet College Hassan Abdal, was established in 1957 in Mirpurkhas district. But, it was shifted to Jamshoro where it was given 700 acres in 1959. It is located 30 kilometres away from Hyderabad and two kilometres away from Indus Highway. The college, which offers education from classes VII to XII besides its O' Level programme, has an enrolment of around 1,200 students.

*Names have been hidden to protect identities

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2015.