100 children rushed to hospital after dead snake found in school lunches in India

‘A snake measuring around eight inches was found in the food at the school’

File image: Students wait in a queue to get their lunches in India ((AP Photo/Manish Swarup))

At least 110 students in India's eastern state of Bihar were taken to hospital after they were served food from a platter that had a dead snake in it.

The reptile's corpse was spotted on a plate that had been used to serve lunch to pupils at a government school in the Araria district on Saturday.

The students were rushed to a local hospital after some began vomiting and complained of uneasiness as locals protested the lack of hygiene controls. It was reported that some of the students fell unconscious.

"A snake measuring around eight inches was found in the food at the school in the morning," district magistrate Inayat Khan said.

"By that time, the food had been distributed to 18 students while 98 others were in the queue," she told The Telegraph.

With the help of locals, all the pupils were rushed to a local hospital as a precautionary measure, she added.

All of them were discharged by Sunday morning.

The food was prepared by a non-profit that has been engaged to supply meals to multiple government-run schools.

“A team of officials inspected the centralised kitchen run by CNDI (the non-profit) and the cooking process followed there. Action will be taken against it if any lapse is found in the report," the district magistrate said.

“The dead snake has been sent to a forensic science lab to ascertain its variety and whether it was poisonous,” she added.

A team of officials, including the district education officer, have initiated a probe into the incident and would take "strict action" against those found guilty.

This is not the first time that students at Indian schools have been rushed to hospital after the consumption of adulterated or poor-quality food served for lunch.

Last Friday at least 35 students in West Bengal state reportedly fell ill after consuming lunch in which a lizard was found. The students were rushed to a local hospital with complaints of severe stomach aches and vomiting.

Later, a dead lizard was discovered floating in one of the containers used to store and serve the meal.

Similarly on 18 May, a dead lizard in school lunch sent around 35 students to hospital in Bihar's Saran district.

In July 2013, at least 23 schoolchildren aged four to 12 died after eating lunch allegedly laced with pesticides. Following the incident, the state government had issued assurances that covered kitchens would be constructed in all the 70,000 schools in the state where lunches were served.