5-yr-old dies, 18 fall ill after eating food at children's home in Salem, Tamil Nadu

 A five-year-old girl died while 18 other children fell ill allegedly after eating food at a children's home in remote Karumantharai area in the district today.

Soon after eating lunch at the home, the students started vomiting and some of them fell unconscious following which they were rushed to Primary Health Centre in the village, where a Class I student died, police said.

Eighteen students, who fell ill after eating food, had been discharged from the hospital, police said.

The children's home has 24 boys and 29 girls and runs classes from first to 12th standards. It was not yet clear if all 53 students in the home consumed the food, police said.