About 25 girls, hostellers at Akkamahadevi Hostel on Dravidian University campus at Kuppam, were taken ill reportedly after having lunch on Tuesday and were rushed to a private hospital at Kuppam, where their condition is said to be stable.
According to information, the girls of both degree and PG studies had lunch at the hostel canteen around 2 p.m. Between 5.30 p.m. and 7 p.m., several girls complained of dizziness and vomiting, while a couple of girls fell unconscious.
The university staff called the ambulance services at Kuppam and Gudupalle mandals. All the girls were rushed to a private hospital at Kuppam and were given first aid and fluids, while 10 of them had been admitted to the emergency ward.
University’s PRO Murali Krishna Reddy confirmed the incident and said that an inquiry was under way. “The incident was reported to us around 7 p.m., and immediately we shifted them to the nearest hospital. We have information that all the girls are safe, and some of them are temporarily admitted to the hospital. A team is already inspecting the canteen to ascertain the cause of illness,” he said.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Ramakrishna, Registrar Venugopal Reddy, Circle-Inspector (Kuppam Rural) Suryamohan Rao, and MRO of Gudupalle mandal visited the hospital and called on the students who had taken ill.
