Music composer James Vasanthan posted a message on Facebook on Wednesday, explaining that one of his son’s classmates at St Michael Academy, Sirish Savio, had passed away that night.
Social media has been buzzing over the last two days, regarding the death of a Class XII student in Chennai. According to news reports, the family believes the cause of death was an everyday snack.
Music composer James Vasanthan posted a message on Facebook on Wednesday, explaining that one of his son’s classmates at St Michael Academy, Sirish Savio, had passed away that night. According to the post, the boy’s family claimed he ate a bag of Kurkure chips, which left him with a stomach ache. He then consumed an Eno antacid, and reportedly died “within minutes”. Of course, the possibility of an antacid reacting so strongly with a fried snack that it could kill a healthy schoolboy is far-fetched, but that didn’t stop the rumours from spreading online.
By Thursday morning, social media users were receiving warnings of the incident, as Facebook statuses, tweets, and even forwarded WhatsApp messages. All the hue and cry, very reminiscent of the Mentos-Coke paranoia from years ago, was still without any conclusive evidence to young Savio’s cause of death, which has yet to be determined. Experts simultaneously weighed in online, pointing out the boy may have had an allergic reaction, or a pre-existing condition that was exacerbated by the combination. One doctor even went ahead to suggest that it’s possible the packet of chips in question was past its expiry date and had become toxic.
Vasanthan later deleted his Facebook post, while still standing by his warning. He said, “Just to clarify on the status I updated today. It is true. But I had to remove it due to a request from the family. They wanted their privacy and I honoured it.” The bereaved family has so far refused to comment on the incident. Meanwhile, doctors at Fortis Malar Hospital, that received Savio, are insisting they don’t yet know the cause of death, and local police say they no case has been registered.
Reacting to the incident, a PepsiCo India spokesperson told DNA,“The incident is extremely sad and unfortunate. Our sincere condolences to the family, however, the linking of the incident with Kurkure is baseless. We would like to assure that Kurkure is safe for consumption, is made from the highest quality ingredients and complies with all the necessary regulatory norms in India.”
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