Hundreds of students poisoned by state distributed milk around Turkey

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

DHA Photo

Hundreds of students around Turkey have been poisoned by milk distributed as part of a campaign in schools to promote the drinking of milk, daily Hürriyet reported today.

Around 300 students in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır and more than 500 students in Sivas province were poisoned by the milk and subsequently taken to hospitals, according to the Anatolian news agency.

It is reported that a number of students were also affected by milk poisoning in the Kırıkkale, Sakarya, Antalya, Adana, Edirne and Samsun provinces.

Paramedics were immediately dispatched to the schools where students were reportedly suffering from stomach ache after drinking distributed milk.

The Education Ministry has decided to temporarily halt the distribution of milk.

Officials have taken milk samples from schools and the exact reason for the apparent poisoning will be determined after analysis.

 "It is not poisining, but the milk may be unfresh. Let's not call it 'poisoning,' it is the partly psychological and partly physical effect of unfresh food," Sivas Governer Ali Kolat said.

Education Minister Ömer Dinçer denied the alleged links between distrubuted milk and sickness of students.