29 pupils, teacher sick after nasi kerabu meal

The Gua Musang pupils were rushed to hospital after suffering diarrhoea and vomiting.

GUA MUSANG: Twenty-nine pupils and a woman teacher had bouts of vomiting, believed from food poisoning, after eating nasi kerabu at the canteen of Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Paloh 1 and 2, here, today.

Gua Musang District Education Officer Muhammad Zahari Othman said all the victims were rushed to the Bandar Chiku Health Centre here before 10 of them, including the teacher, were sent to Gua Musang Hospital for further treatment.

They were reported to be in stable condition.

The pupils from Year One to Four were said to have eaten nasi kerabu at the school canteen during recess between 9.30am and 10.30am.

Three hours later, they started having diarrhoea and began vomiting, he told reporters.

He has asked the school headmaster to provide a complete report on the incident and to investigate the level of cleanliness at the school canteen.

Year Two pupil, Mohd Khairul Ikhwan Mohd Zawawi, 8, said he had been eating nasi kerabu at the school canteen and did not suffer any stomach ache, but today he vomited several times.

Putra Aiman Iskandar, 7, in Year One, said he almost fainted after having diarrhoea and vomiting.

“I felt weak from the non-stop vomiting, but I did not have this problem from eating nasi kerabu at the canteen before this,” he said.

Such incidents involving pupils have become common of late.

On April 6, 29 pupils of Sekolah Kebangsaan Tiong in Kota Baru suffered food poisoning after having a meal of spicy chicken at the school canteen.

On April 2, 63 students and a teacher at Sekolah Menengah Sains Tapah came down with food poisoning after supper consisting of “roti jala” and chicken curry at the dining hall of the school’s hostel.

On May 12, Bernama reported that 23 students of a secondary school in Dungun came down with food poisoning after eating chicken rice served at its canteen.

Terengganu Education Department director Shafruddin Ali Hussin said they were among 176 students who consumed the food at the canteen.

– BERNAMA