Over 100 students of a residential private English medium school in Pakur district of Jharkhand complained of nausea and vomiting after a lizard was allegedly found in the dinner served to a student on Wednesday evening.

Pakur deputy commissioner Mrityunjay Barnwal confirmed the incident but said that all the children are safe.

“Students of the private residential school (Sidhu Kanhu Memorial English School) in Pakuria block of Pakur district complained of illness after allegedly a lizard was found in the plate of a student during dinner on Wednesday.

“Some were brought to the government hospital in Pakur while others were rushed to the neighbouring government hospital in Bengal. All the students are stable and most of them have been discharged from hospital on Thursday,” said Barnwal.

The deputy commissioner also informed that a two-member team comprising food safety officer Dhaneshwar Hembrom and district superintendent of education Mukul Raj have been asked to conduct a probe into the incident and submit a report within 48 hours and also collect food samples from the hostel for investigation to find the reason for the food poisoning.

Nearly 42 students were admitted to the community health centre in primary health of Pakuria block while over 80 students were rushed to the government medical hospital in Rampurhat in the neighbouring Birbhum district of Bengal.

Pakur civil surgeon Dr Mantu Kumar Tekriwal said that none of the students had a serious illness.

“None of the students had any serious illness. However, they were kept under observation in the hospital as they complained of vomiting and nausea. Though we did not find any of them vomiting at the hospital and they were discharged from the hospital on Thursday morning,” said Dr Tekriwal.