High-profile Goa-Mumbai train serves contaminated egg breakfast, forces emergency stop at Chiplun to rush food-poisoning patients to hospital
The lavish comforts of the Goa-Mumbai Tejas Express, including gourmet meals, turned out to be too hard to digest for 26 passengers who fell victim to food poisoning soon after breakfast was served.
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Passengers who took ill were moved to a hospital in Chiplun
Initially, they were treated by a co-passenger who was a doctor, but as the number of patients increased, the train made an unscheduled halt at Chiplun, where the ailing were hospitalised. Two railway officials have been suspended for the food-poisoning outbreak on the Tejas Express.
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The luxury train departed for Mumbai at 9 am from Karmali station in Goa, and 230 passengers were served breakfast - 117 vegetarian and 113 non-vegetarian meals. In no time, several complained of uneasiness and vomiting.
"First, a group of seven passengers complained of nausea. They were attended to by the onboard supervisor. Later, 15 more passengers also fell ill. A fellow passenger who is a doctor attended to them," said a railway official. By noon, the number of unwell passengers had risen to 26, and the train had to make an unscheduled stop at Chiplun so they could be given proper medical care.
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"The train was given an out-of-course halt at Chiplun and passengers were attended to by a railway doctor. Ambulances were requisitioned and they were admitted to Life Care Hospital. They are under observation, and, as reported by the hospital, no patient is in a serious condition," added the official.
Bad eggs to blame?
One of the passengers, Jayesh Nadkarni, tweeted to Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal about the crisis. "My sister and I had the non-vegetarian breakfast. We started feeling uneasy in the afternoon," recalled Nadkarni, who was in the C-5 compartment.
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He added, "She is in the hospital now and is recovering. Things are under control and railway officials have been supporting us." Other affected commuters that mid-day spoke to also said that they had opted for the non-veg breakfast, which comprises eggs, French fries, ketchup and packaged juice.
Action taken
This set breakfast, like the rest of the menu, was curated by celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor specially for Tejas Express, which was launched on May 24 and is touted as the country's first high-speed fully air-conditioned train. Passengers can choose from a variety of gourmet options and enjoy their meals while watching TV screens on their seats.
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"The area officer at Madgaon and the onboard manager of Tejas Express have been placed under suspension, pending the fact-finding report and food test report," said an official from the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). He also stated that a show-cause notice has been issued to the catering contractor, JK Ghosh and Co, and that strict action would be taken if found guilty.
"The kitchen where the food was prepared has been inspected by the area officer at Madgaon and samples were taken for testing, including soup sachets. The group general manager of IRCTC has proceeded to Chiplun to coordinate and arrange for the needs of the patients. The director of catering services has gone to Mumbai to monitor the situation," he added.
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