Kids hospitalized for food poisoning

AMBON, Maluku: Almost 270 elementary schoolchildren in the province of Maluku were hospitalized for food poisoning after they ate state-sponsored food supplements, Antara news agency reported Tuesday.

The head of Maluku's education department, A. Latupeirissa, said the 268 children from an elementary school in the provincial capital of Ambon were taken to a hospital Monday shortly after eating cooked bananas distributed as a food supplement by the government.

Food poisoning was assumed after children began vomiting and complaining of stomachaches after eating the food.

A teacher at the school, M. Haulussy, said the cooked bananas had been distributed to the children three times a week. However, the supply of the food on Monday was organized by a local women's group without the cooperation of teachers.

The incident in Ambon was the third case of food poisoning from state-sponsored food supplements in the last few months. Hundreds of elementary school children on Java and Sumatra had to be briefly hospitalized for the same reason recently. (swe)