Home for destitute where 3 boys died will be closed: TN ministers

CHENNAI: The home for destitute in Tirupur, where three boys died due to suspected food poisoning after consuming stale food, will be closed immediately, two Tamil Nadu ministers said on Friday.

Social Welfare Minister P Geetha Jeevan, and Information and Publicity Minister M P Saminathan visited the hospital where the affected students were admitted and inquired about their condition.

Later, the ministers told reporters that the condition in the private home -- Sri Vivekananda Sevalayam -- was very bad and in the aftermath of the incident, the home will be closed immediately.

They blamed the authorities in the home for negligence, which led to the death of three boys and affecting 11 others, and action will be taken against those found guilty.

Geetha Jeevan said that providing food brought in from outside to the inmates was illegal and the state government will take responsibility of the remaining occupants of the orphanage.

They would be shifted to another home in Erode district and the conditions of all such orphanages and homes in the state would be reviewed, the ministers said.

Apex child rights body National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Thursday asked the Tamil Nadu chief secretary to probe on urgent basis the deaths at the orphanage. It has sought a response from the top official within 48 hours.

Two children died at the home and the other 12 who fell sick were admitted to the government hospital in Tirupur, where another boy succumbed, they said, adding that a security guard in the home was also hospitalised.