Lucknow, February 7
What was to be a special breakfast of jalebi and omelette turned out to be lethal for a family living on the outskirts of Lucknow. On Monday morning three children and an adult succumbed to food poisoning and another two members of the family were battling for life at the district hospital.
Hundreds of stunned villages had collected near the mourning family of Ramdarshan, a daily wage earner at Dalakheda village in Gosainganj, 30 km from Lucknow.
Narrating the incident 12-year Bittun, explained that her siblings had found a packet containing eggs and jalebis lying amidst the hay outside their jhuggi in the morning. They prepared a sumptuous breakfast by making an omelette of the eggs. “Within seconds whoever had eaten was writhing in pain, including the stray dog who had eaten the leftover. Before anyone could do anything all were finished”, she said blankly pointing to the bodies.
Meanwhile, seven fresh cases of dropsy were reported from various parts of the city on Monday. The police registered three FIRs in different police stations against traders for selling adulterated mustard oil. An eight-year-old boy had succumbed to dropsy on Saturday and 45 others were rushed to a local government hospital following symptoms of the disease caused by mustard oil adulteration.
