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Hathras (UP), Oct 25 (PTI) A woman died, and about a dozen villagers, including children, fell seriously ill after consuming temple offerings (prasad) in a village under the Sikandrarao police station area, police said on Saturday. According to local sources, residents had placed several boxes of sweets at a temple on the village outskirts as a festive ritual. On Thursday, devotees distributed the sweets among themselves. Soon after consuming them, 12 to 15 people started experiencing severe stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea, the sources said. One of the victims, Munni Devi (55), succumbed to the ailment on Saturday morning, police said. The other affected individuals were taken to various hospitals, including S N Medical College in Agra and Sikandrarao Community Health Centre, for treatment. Some have been referred to bigger medical facilities due to their critical condition. Sikandrarao Circle Officer J N Asthana confirmed the developments and said, “Preliminary investigation suggests that the sweets offered at the temple had gone bad, leading to food poisoning. One woman has died, and around a dozen others are undergoing treatment,” he said. Police and health officials are monitoring the situation in the village, and samples of the sweets are likely to be sent for testing to confirm the cause of contamination, police said. PTI COR CDN PRK PRK
