Contaminated fried rice served at a school canteen here allegedly led to 17 students and a teacher being rushed to the Malacca Hospital for food poisoning

Fried rice believed be cause of mass food poisoning at Malacca school

MALACCA: Contaminated fried rice served at a school canteen here allegedly led to 17 students and a teacher being rushed to the Malacca Hospital for food poisoning this afternoon.

Ayer Keroh Fire and Rescue Department operations director Alip Dollah said three of his personnel and a medical assistant rushed to the school after receiving the report at 1.30pm. Three ambulances were dispatched to the scene to ferry victims to hospital.

When the New Straits Times arrived at the hospital, there was a blanket gag order in place. The students appeared visibly weakened by illness and had to be shuttled between the decontamination ward and the emergency ward on wheelchairs for treatment.

An elder brother of one of the victims, who declined to be named, claimed that the cause of the food poisoning was likely the fried rice served at the canteen.

Malacca Health Department director Datuk Ghazali Othman, when contacted, confirmed the incident and said investigations have been launched to determine the exact cause of the food poisoning.

"All victims are in stable condition and are now receiving treatment at the emergency unit at the Malacca Hospital," he said.

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