Over 400 students get poisoned in university cafeteria in Turkey’s north

RİZE

Hundreds of students in the Black Sea province of Rize were rushed to medical facilities with symptoms of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea on Dec. 12, Doğan News Agency reported.

Students at the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University (RTEÜ) are suspected to have been poisoned in the school cafeteria, Rize Governor Erdoğan Bektaş said on Dec. 13.

The official statement said a total of 473 students had applied to two medical facilities over the course of the night.

“Such issues can come up when preparing meals for masses. Precautions are taken to avoid these incidents but they can still happen,” Bektaş said.

“Three thousand students and personnel eat at our university. We are thoroughly examining the situation. We’re taking samples. We must be more careful,” he added after visiting Rize State Hospital on Dec. 13.

Those responsible for the incident will be identified and will receive the appropriate response, the governor vowed.

Rize provincial health administrator Mustafa Tepe said that nurses and doctors were rushed back to duty to address the problem.

Some 311 of the 313 students who rushed to the Rize State Hospital overnight have been discharged, while 156 of the 160 students who submitted themselves to the Rize Training and Research Hospital were discharged.

Six students are still under treatment. All are reported to have eaten the same meat dish served in the RTEÜ’s Fener campus cafeteria.

Meanwhile, the university administration announced that students who applied to medical facilities on Dec. 12 will be granted a leave of absence for classes on Dec. 13.