A student, who fell sick from drinking suspected contaminated water at his school, is taken to a hospital in Patna, India on August 1, 2013.
Nearly a dozen Indian school children have fallen sick after drinking suspected contaminated water from a hand pump at their school in the eastern state of Bihar.
The children were transferred to a hospital in the state capital Patna on Thursday for medical treatment.
Å“They were taken to hospital when their condition deteriorated after drinking the water from the pump,” said hospital superintendent Amarkant Jha Amar.
Reports say that police have launched an investigation into the incident.
Last month, at least 23 children, aged between five and 12, died after eating a meal of rice and potato curry cooked at their school in the village of Dharmasati Gandaman in Bihar.
Following Julyâ„¢s incident, police arrested Meena Devi, the headmistress of the Indian school, while on her way to a local court to surrender.
According to officials, poisonous food items were brought from a grocery shop belonging to Deviâ„¢s husband.
Some medics at local hospitals said a chemical used in pesticides was the likely cause of contamination.
A forensic investigation found that the food was prepared with cooking oil containing agricultural pesticide.
On July 19, more than 100 students from a government-run school in Bihar attacked their teachers in protest at the quality of their lunch.
The students from a school in Bhikhampur village assembled in front of the office of the Nawada district magistrate, carrying placards and shouting slogans to protest against what they called the poor quality of the mid-day meal.
When their instructors came to present their case and give their side of the story before the official, the students surrounded them and beat them up.
India runs a school breakfast and lunch program that covers 120 million children. It was established to tackle malnutrition and boost school attendance.
MAM/MHB
Republished from: Press TV