Child dies, 700 hospitalised following mass food poisoning in Jordan: Health Ministry

Amman [Jordan], July 29 (Sputnik/ANI): A 5-year-old child has died and around 700 people have been hospitalised in Jordan as a result of mass food poisoning incident that occurred in the northwest of the Amman capital, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
The child ate contaminated food in a restaurant in Amman's district of Ein al-Basha, the Ministry said, as quoted by Jordan News Agency Petra.
"Some 700 people were taken to hospitals in the wake of the incident," Health Minister Saad Jaber said, adding that most of the patients are in good condition, and some individuals having moderate fever symptoms.
The laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of several bacteria types in the food, the Ministry revealed in a statement, cited by the state media.
"After examining the restaurant, it was found that the cooling unit inside the shawarma cooking room was found non-functional and that the preparation process takes place outside in an unhealthy environment and without adhering to the safety measures," the statement read.
After the local authorities reported that seven family members had been poisoned after taking a meal from the cafeteria, the local public safety committee took food samples and shut the facility down following a sharp increase in cases of poisoning, Ein al-Basha's Governor Hakem Khreisha said on Tuesday, according to the news outlet. (Sputnik/ANI)