Three Die in Peru as School Meal is Poisoned
September 22, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
Three children have died after their school meal was contaminated by rat poison. Investigations will now begin, says health official.
Three children have died in Peru after a school meal was contaminated with pesticide on Tuesday. The Health Ministry also confirmed that more than 50 people have been hospitalised due to the effects of the poison.
The food was supplied by the Peruvian government as part of their National Food Assistance Programme, in an attempt to support children in the poorer, monotonous regions of the country.
The incident occurred at a school situated in Redondo, a remote village in the northern Cajamarca region.
According to reports, the meals were infected on Tuesday when workers used containers which had previously held rat poison.
The three dead were between the ages of seven and 10 years old, with officials predicting that the death toll will rise by the end of the week.
The mother of one boy who died from the contamination described her ordeal.
“I think it was poison because all the kids are purple, from all parts of the school,” she said.
“My little boy has died. My nine-year-old boy, Miguel Angel, has died.”
A similar incident occurred in a school near Cuzco in 1999, where 24 school children died after their food was contaminated with rat poison.
An official investigation is now underway.
By Catherine Rees
[Image courtesy of Sustainable sanitation]
