22 Children killed and 25 Sick After Eating Food Poisoned With Insecticide [SEE PHOTOS]

At least 22 children died and many others were sick after eating a free school lunch that was tainted by a heavy dose of insecticide, officials in India said today.

It was not immediately clear how chemicals ended up in the food in a school in the eastern state of Bihar, although one official said the food may not have been properly washed before it was cooked.

The children, between the ages of 8 and 11, fell ill yesterday soon after eating their school lunch in Masrakh, a village 50 miles north of the state capital of Patna. 

Dozens sick: Schoolchildren receive treatment at a hospital after falling ill soon after eating free school meals

School authorities immediately stopped serving the meal of rice, lentils, soya and potatoes as the children started vomiting.

The lunch, part of a popular country-wide campaign to give at least one hot meal to children from poor families, was cooked in the school kitchen.

In addition to the 22 children who died, another 25 children as well as the school cook have been taken to hospital, he said. Eight of them were in a serious condition.

Authorities suspended an official in charge of the free meal scheme in the school and registered a case of criminal negligence against the school headmaster, who fled as soon as the children fell ill. 

P.K. Sahi, the state education minister, said a preliminary investigation suggested the food had traces of an organophosphate used as an insecticide on rice and wheat crops. 

It's believed the grain was not washed before it was served at the school, he said.

However, villagers said the problem appeared to be with a side dish of soya and potatoes, adding that children who had not eaten that dish were fine - although they had eaten the rice and lentils.Horror: A father mourns as he holds his dead daughter today inside an ambulance, outside a hospital in Patna, in the eastern Indian state of Bihar India's midday meal scheme is one of the world's biggest school nutrition programs.tate governments have the freedom to decide on menus and timings of the meals depending on local conditions and availability of food rations.It was first introduced in southern India, where it was seen as an incentive for poor parents to send their children to school.Since then the program has been replicated across the country covering some 120million school children as part of an effort to address concerns about malnutrition.