3 Children Die In 2 Days At Indore Shelter, 12 Others Hospitalised. Probe Ordered

Bal Ashram of Shri Yugpurush Dham houses more than 200 children, including orphans and those with mental ailments.

Police personnel outside a hospital where victims of the Hathras' stampede are admitted, in Etah. (PTI)

Indore: Three children have died at a shelter home in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, over the last two days, police told PTI on Tuesday. Food poisoning is suspected to be the cause of death in at least two of these cases.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Alok Kumar Sharma said the three children have been identified as Karan (12), Akash (7), and Shubh (8), all residents of Bal Ashram of Shri Yugpurush Dham, which houses more than 200 children, including orphans and those with mental ailments.

The officer said the exact cause of death will be known once the post-mortem reports arrive.  

Twelve children from the home had been admitted in the government-run Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital (MYH) with complaints of vomiting and diarrhoea, PTI quoted hospital superintendent Dr Ashok Yadav as saying. He also said two children were in critical condition due to dehydration, adding that all the ailing children were under 14 years old.

Indore Collector Ashish Singh visited MYH to inquire about the children and spoke to the doctors. He found out that it appears to be a case of food poisoning, as reported by PTI. A team led by the additional district magistrate, comprising doctors and officials of the food department, has also been sent to the Bal Ashram for investigation, Singh said.

Singh also told PTI that the 12-year-old boy who died had experienced seizures, and his death is unlikely to be linked to the other cases.

The incident has led to an outcry, prompting a joint investigative team from various government departments to visit Bal Ashram and launch a probe. Rajendra Singh Raghuvanshi, the additional district magistrate who heads the team, told PTI that officials from the food department had collected food and ration samples from the ashram, and sent them for testing. 

The management of Shri Yugpurush Dham has written to the Child Welfare Committee stating that certain children have blood infections, according to the officials. However, the administration has not yet verified the management's claim.