Nearly 100 people, including about 35 to 36 children, fell ill after allegedly eating pani puri and tikki from a street vendor in Pedari and Kalnakhor villages of Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharthnagar district, with vomiting and diarrhoea reported within hours of consumption.
The affected residents were taken to Madhav Prasad Tripathi Medical College in Siddharthnagar after their condition worsened. The incident was reported from villages under Khesraha police station limits, where several families began reporting similar symptoms after purchasing food from the same vendor on Friday evening.
Dr Bilal Ahmed, posted in the medical college’s emergency ward, said patients from the villages had been brought to the hospital after consuming pani puri and tikki. Three children were initially in a critical condition, but their health improved after treatment and they were stable, he said. All patients were being treated and kept under medical observation.
The exact cause of the outbreak has not yet been established. Dr Ahmed said investigators would need to determine whether contamination originated from the water used to prepare pani puri or from the chickpea-based filling and other ingredients.
Residents told the Times of India that people from multiple families developed symptoms after eating the street food. Ashish Maurya said his sister began vomiting and experiencing diarrhoea during the night after eating pani puri from the vendor. She was taken to the medical college and was feeling better while continuing treatment. Other affected residents, including Chandni and Vijay Kumar, also reported similar symptoms and were admitted or treated at the hospital.
Siddharthnagar Chief Medical Officer Sanjay Dohre visited the affected villages after the incident was reported. He said health department teams had been deployed to identify affected residents and provide medical assistance. Patients in relatively serious condition were referred to the medical college for specialised care.
According to the CMO, preliminary information suggested that the vendor may have served leftover boiled potatoes and other food ingredients from the previous night. Officials said consumption of the leftover food was suspected to have triggered the illness, but stressed that the actual cause would be confirmed only after investigation.
Medical teams from Khesraha Community Health Centre and the Uska Bazar area, along with other health department personnel, were deployed in the villages. The teams were providing treatment, identifying additional cases and monitoring residents who may have consumed the food.
Dohre said no deaths had been reported and that the situation was under control. Health officials are continuing surveillance in the two villages and monitoring patients at the medical college while the investigation into the source of contamination proceeds.
