6 September in the Beshshoky residential area of the Mangistau village in the Munaily district of the Mangistau region, primary school children were mass poisoned after lunch in the canteen.
According to ORDA, the authorities have not yet announced the cause of the poisoning. However, parents claim that on that day the children ate mashed potatoes with a cutlet in the school canteen.
The exact cause of the poisoning of around 300 children will be determined by a special investigation.
According to official information, 222 children are currently receiving treatment at home, 67 children are in hospital, and another 2 are in intensive care.
The mother of one of them, Kamshat Kenzhebayeva, reported that she has been denied seeing her son for almost a day.
“The doctors say his condition has improved, he has opened his eyes. But they still won’t let me in to see him”, the woman said.
Local resident Gulmira Zhumabayeva, whose son was also poisoned and is in the children’s infectious diseases hospital, said that her children had previously complained about the food in the school canteen. The woman now intends to demand punishment for those responsible for the incident.
“When I opened the school chat, there was such a commotion. All the parents were writing that their children had been poisoned. Everyone had similar symptoms — vomiting, diarrhoea. My son also started to become delirious, stopped responding to his name, couldn’t stand on his legs at all, couldn’t lift his head. This never happened with a normal poisoning before. I don’t know what to think anymore. Maybe they carried out disinfection in the canteen and forgot to wash the dishes afterwards. Or perhaps the potatoes for the mash were boiled the day before and went sour overnight”, said Gulmira Zhumabayeva.
Meanwhile, the Akim of the Munaily district, Yerzhan Kumiskaliyev, stated that the number of children in hospitals has decreased.
However, parents of the affected children told journalists that patients are still being admitted. It has become known that a whole block has been set aside at the hospital for the students of Beshshoky school.
Recall that in June, at a private kindergarten in the Keles district of the Turkestan region, 34 children suffered food poisoning.
The children began to feel unwell after breakfast. Kindergarten staff called an ambulance and provided first aid. Law enforcement authorities launched a criminal investigation.
Shortly before that, in the Kyzylzhar district of the North Kazakhstan region, a family of five was poisoned after consuming products bought at a shop. Two children, aged 3 and 6, died.