The potentially dangerous fallout from India's school-lunch tragedy

At least 21 kids are dead and dozens more are sick after eating tainted free lunches

Indian children
(Image credit: AP Photo/Aftab Alam Siddiqui)

Rioting broke out Wednesday near a village in India where at least 21 children, all age 10 or younger, died after eating a free school lunch that doctors say appears to have been poisoned with insecticide. Another 30 children were hospitalized with severe vomiting and diarrhea after they ate the meal, which according to various reports included lentils, vegetables, rice, soybeans, and potatoes. A cook, who tasted the food after kids complained it tasted odd, also fell ill.

The outrage went global, with Oxfam tweeting that the tragedy was an indictment of "pathetic officialdom" in the impoverished state of Bihar, where the school is located.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.