Karnataka: 60 kids fall ill after eating castor beans in school

On Tuesday, 60 school kids were taken to hospital in Sherewada village in Kundagol taluk, Karnataka, after they fell ill.

A report in The New Indian Express states that the Government Higher Primary School students ate castor beans from a plant that was growing in the school premises. The children then drank the milk which is distributed in the government school. 

However, the 60 school children soon started to vomit and some had diarrhoea as well. Because some were dehydrated, they felt drowsy as well. The villagers decided to take about 45 of them to the Karnataka Institute of Medical Science Hospital, adds the report. Three of them are reportedly in serious condition and in the ICU.

Castor beans are reportedly toxic because they contain ricin, the report says. KIMS Director Dr DD Bant has been quoted by the daily as saying that all the students were treated immediately. "They are all recovering. Children admitted in the ICU are also out of danger now. All the children would be discharged from the hospital on Wednesday morning after an overnight observation," he added. The children are to be discharged on Wednesday morning and have been on intravenous fluids and ORS.