18 students of a government primary school in Sadar upazila of Chapainawabganj district have fallen ill after eating food distributed under the school feeding program.

The children fell ill yesterday, Wednesday.

10 of them were admitted to the 250-bed Chapainawabganj District Hospital at night. After treatment, they were discharged from the hospital this morning.

The matter was confirmed by the school's headmaster Durul Hoda and the district hospital's resident medical officer (RMO) Mahbub Hasan.

At Shalim Dolpara Government Primary School in Sadar upazila, students were given eggs and bread at noon as part of the school feeding program. The students started feeling sick shortly after eating the food.

Headmaster Durul Hoda told The Daily Star that 221 students were given food. Most of them had already eaten the food.

He said, when about 18 students reported their health problems, we immediately ordered the rest of the students not to eat that food. The teachers checked the food. Some of the food smelled stale.

Doctor Mahbub Hasan said that 10 students were admitted to the hospital on Wednesday night with similar symptoms.

He said that they were all reporting almost the same symptoms. Initially, it is believed that the students may have fallen ill due to eating poor-quality food or due to the extreme heat. However, nothing can be said for sure at the moment.

He also said that all the students admitted to the hospital were discharged this morning.

District Primary Education Officer Saiful Islam said that the food was provided by the non-governmental organization 'Gram Unnayan Karma' (GAK). He said that samples of the food have been collected and will be sent to the laboratory for testing.

The officer also mentioned that in the past, there have been incidents of students falling ill after eating food provided under the school feeding program in different upazilas of the district.

He further said that the matter has been reported to the higher authorities. As per the instructions of the ministry, the district administration had formed an investigation committee. The committee has already submitted its report.