Officials said 17 people fell ill in Noida while 76 students residing in a private hostel met a similar fate in nearby Greater Noida area, after consuming the “special meals” made from ‘kuttu ka atta’ on Mahashivratri.

Noida News: Over 90 people were hospitalised Saturday due to suspected food poisoning in two separate incidents in Noida and Greater Noida areas in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Budh Nagar district after reportedly consuming special meals meals for fast made of ‘kuttu ka atta’ on Mahashivratri.

According to officials, 17 people fell ill in Noida while 76 students residing in a private hostel met a similar fate in nearby Greater Noida area, after consuming the “special meals”.

They said that 17 people, who fell ill in Noida, included men and women, all residents of Barola village, and are admitted to the district hospital in Sector 30 while the 76 people in Greater Noida are students of different colleges living in a private hostel and have been admitted to different hospitals in the area.

76 students hospitalised in Greater Noida

As per the police, the students had dinner on Friday night after which many of them complained of uneasiness, dizziness and vomiting. The students are residents at Aryan Residency in the Knowledge Park area — an educational hub — and had ‘puris’ made of ‘kuttu ka atta’ (buckwheat flour) on account of Mahashivratri, the police said.

“The local police are aware of the incident which took place on Friday evening after around 76 students had their dinner and then complained of their stomachs getting upset. All the students were taken to different hospitals and their condition is stable now,” police said in a statement, adding “there is no law and order issue due to the incident and the matter is being probed.”

The hostel students said they had dinner which was cooked separately for them owing to their fast.

“We had dinner around 9.30 pm. I started feeling dizzy by 10.30 pm and then went to sleep. Some friends then noticed that a lot of students had started complaining of dizziness, uneasiness, vomiting,” said Piyush, a student recuperating at a private hospital.

#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh: More than 76 students of Aryan Residency and Lloyd Hostel in the Knowledge Park police station area admitted to hospital after they complained of food poisoning. They are undergoing treatment and are out of danger: Greater Noida Police pic.twitter.com/QDcw3eASPo

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“My body started trembling around midnight and I felt feverish and dizzy. Two of my roommates and I were then brought to the emergency department here. Some others in my hostel were vomiting too,” another student Kushal told reporters at the Kailash Hospital.

17 fall ill in Noida village

Meanwhile, in nearby Noida, 17 people, including women, were admitted to the hospital after they consumed meals that included ‘kuttu ka atta’, District Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Renu Agarwal told news agency PTI.

“The condition of all the patients is stable, they are out of danger. It appears to be a case of food poisoning,” the doctor said.

Authorities take samples for testing

Following the twin cases of food poisoning, the district’s food safety department took cognisance of the incidents and took samples of the raw materials in Barola village in Noida and Aryan Residency hostel in Greater Noida.

“We have started the process for a probe in the matters. Our teams have inspected the sites and collected samples of the raw materials which were used to prepare the meals that apparently caused the food poisoning,” District Food Safety officer Archana Dheeran said.

“The collected samples would be sent to Lucknow for analysis and once we get a report from there, legal proceedings would be initiated accordingly. We are trying to expedite the probe in the cases that concern public health,” Dheeran added.

(With PTI inputs)