Anakapalli: Three students, who were staying at a private hostel, died after having food at Kailasapatnam village in Kotauratla mandal of the district on Monday.
On hearing the sad news, the Andhra Pradesh government announced Rs 10 lakh as ex-gratia to the bereaved families.
According to official sources, the students ate samosas as snacks on Saturday evening and sometime later, they fell ill with diarrhea.
Forty-eight students, who were staying at a hostel run by a private organisation, fell ill after having samosas. They were students of class I to V.
Some of them were admitted to various hospitals, including KGH in Visakhapatnam. Three of the students died on Monday and they were identified as Jashuva, Bhavani and Shredda, all below 10 years of age.
The deceased students belonged to Anakapalli district.
As many as 14 students were undergoing treatment in the KG Hospital in Visakhapatnam, where the condition of one of the students was said to be very critical.
Five students were undergoing treatment in Narsipatnam area hospital, two each in Paderu and Chintapalli area hospitals, collector Vijay Krishnan said.
Some students belonging to tribal communities were staying at the hostel and were studying at various institutions.
Collector Vijaya Krishnan, superintendent of police Deepika and other officials visited the students at Narsipatnam area hospital on Monday evening.
The SP said that stringent action would be taken against hostel authorities.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock and grief over the death of three students of a private hostel. He announced Rs 10 lakh as ex-gratia to the bereaved families.
Minister for Education Nara Lokesh also expressed shock and grief over the death of three hostel inmates.
