Raipur: Nine people, including three women and three kids, were killed and 27 were taken ill after a group of tribals consumed rotten fish at a government-run relief camp in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, an official said Tuesday.
Medical teams were sent late Monday to the relief camp in Injeram village in the Maoist insurgency-hit district, 560 km south of Raipur."A group of 50 tribals brought rotten fish from a local pond and ate it on Saturday. While seven people died late Sunday, two more died on Monday," Dantewada District Collector K.R. Pisda told IANS.
"At least 27 tribals, including 17 women and three children, were seriously ill and were continuously vomiting. Five medical teams have been treating them and they have shown some improvement," Pisda added.
Home department officials said the food poisoning had created panic in the camp and hundreds of people had started returning to their forested villages since early Tuesday. There were reported rumours of an epidemic having spread in the camp.
About 4,000 tribals have settled at the Injeram camp for the past one year as they face threats from Maoist rebels after the tribals launched a civil militia movement in June 2005. The movement now receives military and monetary backing from the state government.
At least 50,000 indigenous tribals have settled at over a dozen government-run relief camps in Dantewada.
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