Raipur, April 4 : In a shocking incident in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur district, as many as 65 children fell ill after consuming a mid-day meal that contained a dead lizard.

The incident occurred on Thursday at Gajadharpur Turripani Primary School, located in the Kusmi block, a remote area of the district.

According to officials, the children were immediately taken to the Kusmi Community Health Centre, where they received primary treatment and were later discharged on Friday.

According to the information, while eating her meal, a girl student noticed a dead lizard in her plate. She alerted the caretaker, and all 65 students were asked to stop eating and were quickly taken to the hospital.

By the time the lizard was noticed, most children had already consumed the meal. Soon after, many students began experiencing symptoms like vomiting, nausea and stomach pain.

Alarmed, the school staff informed the Block Education Officer (BEO) and facilitated the children's transportation to the nearby Kusmi health centre with the help of their families.

Rampath Yadav, the BEO of Kusmi block, confirmed the report and told IANS, 'A girl noticed the lizard in her plate. We have launched an inquiry to determine how it ended up in the food."

An investigation into the incident has been initiated, he said.

At the health centre, the children were treated. "Some children reported stomach pain, about 10 students felt nauseous, two students needed intravenous fluid. They were under medical observation in a nearby tribal hostel till Friday morning. Later, all were discharged," Dr Basant Singh, chief medical officer, Balrampur, informed IANS.

However, an insider said the condition of one child was notably worse. However, after treatment, he had improvement.

BEO Rampath Yadav added that there are three assistants engaged in preparing the mid-day meal, and it is suspected that the lizard accidentally fell into the food during cooking.

On the day of the incident, 101 children were present in the school, although the official registration count is about 150. Lalit Yadav, the police station in-charge of Kusmi, also stated that a written complaint had been received from the school teacher, and the matter will be looked into to determine if it was an accident or someone deliberately put the lizard in the meal.

/IANS