As many as 40 girl students staying at Sevasadan hostel in Sadashiv Peth were admitted to private hospitals in the city around 5.30am on Sunday for suspected food poisoning.

The Times of India reports that “a total of 200 girl students in the 10-20 years age group stay in the hostel. A couple of students complained of vomiting, stomach ache and nausea around 3.30am. Soon after, many others also started exhibiting similar symptoms. Initially, we took them to nearby Gore Hospital where a few of them responded to the treatment and were discharged immediately. However, most of them had to be rushed to Deenanath Mangeshkar and MJM hospitals after their symptoms persisted. They are stable and recovering now,” said Nitin Lele, trustee of the hostel which is run by Pune Sevasadan Sanstha.

A private contractor has been assigned the responsibility of buying grocery, vegetables and preparing the meals for girls. “The girls had gawar (cluster bean), rice, chapati, daal and kadhi for dinner at the hostel. After which 40 complained of symptoms of suspected food poisoning. Most of them are students of Sundarbai Rathi School which is also run by Pune Sevasadan Santha,” Lele said.

The Vishrambaug police have drawn samples of the prepared food and sent them to designated laboratories for testing. Officials of the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) also drew samples of raw materials which were used for cooking.