One dead, 14 Hospitalised in India After Drinking Suspected Contaminated Water

Many people in India use traditional earthen pots at home or workplaces to keep cold water during summer, as it is widely believed to be useful for health. The Rajasthan Police, meanwhile, have taken a potentially contaminated earthen pot and sent it for forensic testing.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — At least one person has died and 14 others have been left hospitalised after consuming water stored in an earthen pot in a village in the Indian state of Rajasthan. The doctors attending the sick persons suspect that the water kept in the pot had become contaminated.    

The incident occurred when one Maniram Meghwal's family, comprising his wife Sushila, two sons and their wives, started complaining of severe stomachache just after consuming water from their earthen pot kept at their house.

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The woman of the house, Sushila, 53 died while being rushed to hospital by neighbours.

Later, about 10 relatives of Sushila, who lived nearby, came and stayed overnight for the woman's last rites. Later that night, those relatives, too, consumed water from the same earthen pot and started falling sick.  

They later had to be rushed to a district government hospital, where they are currently being treated.

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J.S. Kamra, the medical officer of the local government hospital where the relatives were admitted, said: "The patients were admitted in a critical condition. They were vomiting and complaining of acute stomachache. After being given the required treatment, their condition is getting better and we hope that they would recuperate soon. We suspect water turned contaminated but we are awaiting the report of the forensic test to know the exact cause of their sickness".

The condition of the Meghwal family, which was first admitted to a nearby private hospital, is still critical.