ERBIL, Iraq: A woman and a child died and hundreds fell ill in a mass outbreak of food poisoning at a camp for displaced people east of the Iraqi city of Mosul, officials said.
More than 300 people were hospitalised after breaking their Ramadan fast with an iftar meal on Monday night, aid groups told Reuters.
Many started vomiting and some fainted after eating rice, chicken, yogurt and soup, said Iraqi lawmaker Zahed Khatoun, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s committee for displaced people.
“It is tragic that this happened to people who have gone through so much,” said Andrej Mahecic, from the UN’s refugee agency UNHCR, which runs the camp and 12 others in the war-torn area with Iraqi authorities.
Many of the camp residents had fled fighting around Mosul as Iraqi government forces and their allies press an offensive to push Islamic State militants out of the northern city.
Reuters
