A free lunch for villagers in southern Burma turned sour after it landed more than a third of the rural community in hospital with food poisoning, local officials said Friday.
Hundreds of villagers from Eain Ta Lone, west of Rangoon, fell ill after eating fish stew served at a Buddhist ceremony to celebrate the ordination of local novices.
The entire 1,000-person village was bundled over to the nearest hospital, where 367 were admitted for treatment, said charity worker Wai Lin Aung, who helped to transport the villagers.
Many were vomiting and some described aches and pains all over their body, he added.
“They felt like that after eating stewed hilsa [a type of fish] and cassia soup at the donation.”
