Bihar: 11 children die after eating mid-day meal

At least 11 children of a government primary school in Bihar's Saran district died and over 80 fell ill on Tuesday after consuming their mid-day meal. 

The incident took place at Dharamsati primary school in Masrakh, Saran.

Saran District Magistrate Abhijit Sinha told rediff.com, "It may be a case of contaminated or poisoned mid-day meal. The district authorities will inquire into it."

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a probe into the incident. He has expressed shock over the incident and announced a compensation of Rs 2

lakh each to the kin of the victims.

Angry over the deaths, hundreds of people took to the streets and protested near the local police station demanding action against the school teacher and officials.

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded Kumar’s resignation on moral grounds. Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad blamed rampant corruption in the central government-sponsored mid-day meal scheme for it.

In the last few months, there have been reports of contamination in mid-day meals in different parts of the state.