Police launch criminal investigation into mass food poisoning at Nha Trang school

Police on Wednesday said they are looking for a potential charge of “offenses against regulations of law on food safety and hygiene” regarding the food poisoning incident at the Ischool in Nha Trang last week.

Previously, authorities have requested the local Department of Health to instruct hospitals and medical facilities to compile data and provide information regarding the incident for the investigation process.

The Nha Trang medical ward said the unit responsible for providing food to the Ischool in Nha Trang is a business owned by 40-year-old Bui Phuc Lam, who lives in Vinh Hai Ward. Lam is also the owner of a beverage stall at school.

Lam was granted his business license in 2015 by the Nha Trang finance and planning department. His establishment was also approved by the Nha Trang medical ward as satisfying food safety standards for the third time on October 19.

662 students were admitted to different medical facilities after having their school lunch last Friday, and a 6-year-old boy died on Sunday en route to a HCMC hospital.

As of Tuesday, 137 are still in hospital, down 74 from Monday. There is currently no severely ill case, according to the Khanh Hoa Province Health Department.

The Pasteur Institute Nha Trang said that salmonella, bacillus cereus and E.Coli bacteria were found in the fried chicken wings served at the school on Friday. Bacillus cereus was also found in the fish sauce, the institute said.

This was the most severe school food poisoning case in Vietnam to date, according to Cao Van Trung, deputy head of the poison monitoring and communications department under the Ministry of Health.