22 Kids Die From School Meals in India

Twenty-two schoolchildren are dead and dozens more are ill on Wednesday after eating tainted food as part of a free-lunch program in India’s eastern state of Bihar. Angry parents joined the protest against the school, setting at least four police vehicles on fire. The tainted lunches were part of India’s Mid-Day Meal Program, which provides free food to boost school attendance and promote healthy eating, but at least 47 children fell sick on Tuesday. Twenty-eight students were taken to a local hospital after the incident, and the doctors who took care of the children said the smell coming off the children’s bodies indicated the food contained organo-phosphorus, a poisonous substance.