Vijayanagara, Aug 10 (IANS): More than 30 girl students fell ill following consumption of chicken at a hostel in Vijayanagara district of Karnataka on Thursday.

The incident took place at the Matric ST Girls’ Hostel of Hospet town in Vijayanagara district.

The students have developed symptoms of stomach ache, vomiting and diarrhea in the midnight following consumption of chicken meal in the dinner at the hostel. The students have been shifted to the Hospet government hospital.

Authorities explained that 28 students were admitted to the hospital at midnight. Another four fell sick and they were also hospitalised taking the number of those admitted to the hospital to 32. Among 32, six were taken care of. However, the rest of the students are recovering, hospital authorities stated.

There are 148 students studying in ST hostel. Among them, 131 students ate non-vegetarian food and 17 students opted for vegetarian food on Wednesday night. After dinner, they had gone to sleep. At about 2 a.m., students started complaining about severe stomach pain. They had also developed other symptoms later.

The authorities have directed to collect the blood samples of the students to ascertain the exact cause behind students falling sick. The authorities have also sent the sample of chicken for testing. Vijayanagara District Commissioner Diwakas has visited the students in the hospital and stated that once the reports are available, strict action will be initiated against the guilty.

The authorities have suspected that the students fell sick after eating chicken in dinner. The investigation has been taken up.