26 passengers of Tejas fall ill after breakfast

Mumbai: At least 26 passengers of the Mumbai-Goa Tejas Express, a premier train that was launched in May this year, suffered from food poisoning after eating the breakfast that was served aboard on Sunday.

Around noon, two hours after breakfast, the passengers started feeling uneasy. The train was stopped at Chiplun station as 12 of the 26 passengers were severely afflicted with diarrhoea and vomiting and had to be rushed to Chiplun’s private Life Care Hospital by railway authorities. They are said to be stable now. The train was slated to reach Mumbai at 7.45 pm.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) issued a statement saying that a show cause notice has been served to the catering contractor and strict action would be taken if found guilty. “A group of seven passengers complained of nausea and were attended to by an onboard supervisor. Meanwhile two groups of passengers numbering 15 also complained of nausea. A passenger onboard who is a doctor attended them. The train was given an out of course halt at Chiplun,”the statement said.

It further said that the affected passengers were rushed to a local hospital and nobody is in serious condition.

“An enquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause. The kitchen where food was prepared was inspected by area officer Madgaon after the incident and samples were taken for testing, including soup sachets," the statement said.

Earlier, IRCTC general manager, Mr Arvind Malkhede had claimed that they are not sure if the food served by them can be linked to the suspected food-poisoning incident. “We have to still ascertain if the food poisoning occurred due to the food that was served by us or not. A meeting to discuss the incident is currently underway,” he said.

When asked if the food served would be sent for testing, Mr Malkhede claimed that there were “no leftover food packets remaining from the breakfast that was served.”

He said, “We asked the staff to provide the food packets but they have informed us that none of the food packets remain to be tested.” Ashma Naik, whose daughter and niece were victims of the food poisoning, was extremely vexed that there was no medical care available on the train. “My daughter Sachi, and niece Aditi were one of the first to display signs of food-poisoning. We asked for medical help, but there was no doctor onboard. Shockingly, there was no first aid available either,” she said.

Recounting the episode, Ashma said that she suspects that the soup, which was served at near Ratnagiri, was contaminated. “We had already eaten our breakfast before boarding the train. But the other passengers ate the omelette and bread that was served by the staff.” She added, “But my kids and I had the soup, and within 15 minutes, both girls started to vomit and were hit by diarrhoea too. Some of the senior citizens on the train too were struck with diarrhoea,” she said. She also confirmed that the toilets and the sinks were soiled and dirty as the train was stationed at Chiplun for almost two-hours.