Afghanistan

Food poisoning hits dozens in women’s hostel in Kabul

Almost 70 students in a women’s hostel at Kabul University in Kabul have become sick with diarrhea and stomach pains in a food poisoning incident after having dinner on Sunday night.

At least four people familiar with the matter and three students confirmed the incident to Amu.

“It was a food poisoning incident… The clinic inside the university lacked the required medicines to cope with the situation,” said…

The students are under treatment but are not allowed to speak to the media as their relatives and friends described. Photos on social media show at least four of them under treatment at a clinic.

“They are in critical condition and no one is allowed to post about this on social media,” said a female student from the women’s hostel.

Some of the students have been taken to Ali Abad Hospital, which is near Kabul University.

The reason behind the incident is not clear so far.

Ahmad Taqi, a Taliban spokesman for the Ministry of Higher Education, rejected food poisoning in the women’s hostel at Kabul University but said that at least 50 female students became sick from overeating food.

He said that the students were taken to the hospital for treatment.

The hostel, one of the biggest hostels in the country, houses at least 2,000 students from four public universities in Kabul. It is located inside the compound of Kabul University.

The incident comes a day after a women’s protest in Kabul over the deadly attack on a tutoring center in the west of the city on Friday that killed over 43 young students.