10 teachers die of food poisoning, others hospitalised in Katsina

Ten secondary school teachers are reported to have died of food poisoning, and several others hospitalised in Katsina.

Investigations  showed that the incident occurred at the weekend at a workshop organised by the state Ministry of Education for some 650 teachers at Government Day Secondary School (GDSS), Kofar Yan’daka, Katsina.

It was gathered that soon after taking their lunch, supplied by a popular corporate caterer  on the fateful day, some of the teachers were vomiting and afflicted by diarrhoea, as a result of which they were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina and the Police Clinic for medication.

Ten of the affected teachers were said to have died as a result of the infection.

When contacted, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry of education, Alhaji Khalil Musa, said: “I cannot comment on the issue now, because it has yet to be reported to the state government. I don’t want to pre-empt the government on the issue.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Abubakar Ibrahim, who confirmed the incident, said that only one teacher died, while 19 others were hospitalised.

He said that 12 of the affected teachers had already been discharged from the hospitals, while seven others were still on admission at the Federal Medical Centre and Katsina Police Clinic.

He said the police had already collected sample of the food supplied by the caterer for clinical analysis.

At  the hospitals all the victims were being attended to by medical experts, while officials declined to comment on the number of causalities that were brought to the centres.
NAN