📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Feroze Ahmad 2
Health
Around 30 schoolchildren fall ill on Mangala Express after pantry car meal, train halted for treatment
✍️ Amar Ujala · Madhya Pradesh
🗓 29 Aug 2026, 09:51 AM
👁 24
Late Friday night, about 30 schoolchildren traveling on the Mangala Express from Delhi to Ernakulam reported vomiting, diarrhoea and fever, prompting the train to stop for medical care, with five cases classified as serious.
The Mangala Express, running from Hazrat Nizamuddin station in Delhi to Ernakulam in Kerala, was forced to halt late on Friday after roughly thirty school‑going passengers suddenly complained of vomiting, diarrhoea and fever. The symptoms appeared shortly after the children finished a meal served from the train's pantry car.
Railway officials ordered the train to stop at the nearest station where a medical team was dispatched. The children received immediate treatment for dehydration and fever; five of them were identified as having a more serious condition and were transferred to a nearby hospital for further care.
A spokesperson for Indian Railways said that the pantry car food will be examined by health inspectors to determine the cause of the illness. The railway authority has also instructed all pantry services to adhere strictly to food‑safety protocols.
No other passengers have reported similar ailments, and the train is expected to resume its journey after the affected children are cleared by medical staff.
The incident underscores ongoing concerns about food hygiene on long‑distance trains, prompting calls for stricter monitoring and rapid response mechanisms.
Railway officials ordered the train to stop at the nearest station where a medical team was dispatched. The children received immediate treatment for dehydration and fever; five of them were identified as having a more serious condition and were transferred to a nearby hospital for further care.
A spokesperson for Indian Railways said that the pantry car food will be examined by health inspectors to determine the cause of the illness. The railway authority has also instructed all pantry services to adhere strictly to food‑safety protocols.
No other passengers have reported similar ailments, and the train is expected to resume its journey after the affected children are cleared by medical staff.
The incident underscores ongoing concerns about food hygiene on long‑distance trains, prompting calls for stricter monitoring and rapid response mechanisms.