A 15-year-old boy died while three other children fell ill after consuming watermelon in a village in Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir-Champa district, officials said on Monday.
The incident took place in Ghurkot village, where the children had come to their maternal uncle’s house along with kin, they added.
The deceased was identified as Akhilesh Dhivar (15), a resident of Podi Dalha village, while the other affected children are Shri Dhivar (4) from Avarid village, Pintu Dhivar (12) from Khatola and Hitesh Dhivar (13) from Kotgarh.
“As per preliminary information, the children consumed cut watermelon kept at the house on Sunday evening. A few hours later, Akhilesh started vomiting, had diarrhoea and breathing difficulties. Similar symptoms were later noticed in the other three children as well,” said district hospital civil surgeon Dr S Kujur.
“As their condition deteriorated, family members rushed them to the district hospital in ambulances at different times on Monday. However, Akhilesh was declared brought dead on arrival. The three other children were admitted to the emergency ward here,” he added.
Dr Kujur said the watermelon had reportedly been cut in the morning and consumed several hours later, raising the possibility of contamination.
“Prima facie, the children may have suffered food poisoning due to consumption of contaminated watermelon. The body of the teenager has been sent for post-mortem and viscera samples have been preserved for forensic examination. Another watermelon kept at the house was sent to the food safety department for laboratory testing,” Kujur said.
Officials said the exact cause of death and illness would be known only after the forensic and food safety reports are received.
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