Daily Times

SWABI: More than 100 students of Captain Kernal Sher Khan Cadet College were hospitalised after suffering from food poisoning after supper at the hostel’s mess the other night.

The situation developed minutes after students finished their meal at the college mess in the evening. The first incident happened at the Iqbal House, one of the five houses of the college as students rushed a cadet to the college hospital in their arms.

Although, initial reports put the number of affected students at 500, the actual number of the affected was about 200 to 250. The cadet college sources said that the number of students affected was a little above 100 at all hospitals including that of the college’s own health facility.

Haris Habib, Rescue 1122 spokesperson in Mardan informed this scribe that they treated 180 children at the college’s health facility while another 70 were shifted to Mardan Medical Complex (MMC). “All students at the college hospital and MMC returned to their hostels after getting first aid,” he added.

At least 20 students discharged from the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Mardan around 1 a.m. were also shifted to their hostels late at night. These included Hamza Aurengzeb of class eight who is among the new group of students who started studying at the college this year.

His father Aurengzeb told Daily Times that parents sent their children to prestigious institutes for better education with character building. “It is a matter of concern that such an incident of negligence took place at a well reputed education institute. It should be investigated properly and those responsible should be penalised according to the law,” he said.

Talking to Daily Times, Jinnah House Master Adam Khan, said that he had only gone to see the first child when more and more children started arriving there. “The college hospital is just three minutes from the hostels. I saw groups of children being brought by their class fellows,” he said.

“Soon our hospital vehicles, including that of the college principal took students to the CMH Mardan. We also made calls to Rescue 1122 as the situation was beyond our fears in no time. Many children had to be rerouted to the MMC as the CMH ran out of space to deal with the emergency,” he added.

The menu for Sunday evening at both Mess A and B of Kernal Sher Khan Cadet College is chicken biryani and cold drinks. However, it is still unclear what caused the food poisoning that made so many children sick at once.

Mess A cares for 300 or more students of three houses where as Mess B provides food to 200 students.

However, some of the affected students did not take mess food that evening while many of the eight grade students had received their food parcels from home as a weekend token from home.

Similarly, the water tanks that provide water to the mess and hostels also provide drinking water to the staff residences. None of the staff or their family members suffered any problem.

The cadet college immediately beefed up security, thinking that it could be an act to diverge the focus and that there could be another, more serious threat to the college.

All but four students were still getting treatment at the CMH in Mardan, including Azmatullah of grade 9 in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). His father, Attaullah told this scribe that his son was out of critical condition and was recovering at the hospital. The other three students still getting treatment at the CMH are Obaid of 10th grade and 2nd year students Farhan and Saifullah.

Another parent, Professor Dr. Aman, who visited the college this morning lamented the food quality and hygiene condition at the mess. “The food is substandard, students have filed many written complaints about the quality of food and the unhygienic environment of the kitchen but it has always fallen on deaf ears,” he said.

Dr. Aman also said that the concerned authorities, including the World Health Organisation (WHO) visiting the college today took photographs and samples of the food and water.

An eyewitness described the scene at the hostel as terrifying. “There were children lying unconscious and unconscious in the hostel lawns.

Some were vomiting while others shouted for help,” said Dr. Tariq whose son and nephew were also affected in the incident.

The cause of the food poisoning will hopefully be found out once laboratory reports from of the food, water and cold drink samples are available. However, some parents have already started demanding for the resignation of the principal, who they claimed is himself a retired man with health issues.