Updated Wednesday, July 17th 2013 at 14:02 GMT +3
At least 22 children have died and dozens more have fallen sick after eating a tainted school meal in India's eastern state of Bihar.
The poisoning occurred at a government school in the village of Masrakh in Saran district.
India's Mid-Day Meal Scheme provides free food to try to boost attendance, but often suffers from poor hygiene.
Angry parents joined protests against the deaths, setting at least four police vehicles on fire.
An inquiry has begun and 200,000 rupees ($3,370) in compensation offered to the families of each of the dead.
Twenty-eight sick children were taken to hospitals in the nearby town of Chhapra and the state capital, Patna, after the incident.
A total of 47 students of a primary school in Dharmasati Gandaman village fell sick on Tuesday after eating the free lunch.
'Food poisoning'
There are fears the number of dead could rise as some of the children, all below the age of 12, are critically ill.
The father of one sick child, Raja Yadav, said his son had been vomiting after returning from school and had to be rushed to hospital.
The state education minister, PK Shahi, told the BBC a preliminary investigation indicated that the food was contaminated with traces of phosphorous.
"The doctors who have attended are of the tentative opinion that the smell coming out of the bodies of the children suggests that the food contained organo-phosphorus, which is a poisonous substance," he said.
The poisoning occurred at a government school in the village of Masrakh in Saran district.
Angry parents joined protests against the deaths, setting at least four police vehicles on fire.
An inquiry has begun and 200,000 rupees ($3,370) in compensation offered to the families of each of the dead.
Twenty-eight sick children were taken to hospitals in the nearby town of Chhapra and the state capital, Patna, after the incident.
A total of 47 students of a primary school in Dharmasati Gandaman village fell sick on Tuesday after eating the free lunch.
'Food poisoning'
There are fears the number of dead could rise as some of the children, all below the age of 12, are critically ill.
The father of one sick child, Raja Yadav, said his son had been vomiting after returning from school and had to be rushed to hospital.
The state education minister, PK Shahi, told the BBC a preliminary investigation indicated that the food was contaminated with traces of phosphorous.
"The doctors who have attended are of the tentative opinion that the smell coming out of the bodies of the children suggests that the food contained organo-phosphorus, which is a poisonous substance," he said.
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