Turakapalem deaths' cause yet to be established, situation under control: Andhra official

Turakapalem (Andhra Pradesh), Sep 6 (PTI) No fresh deaths were recorded in this village in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh since September 2 and five villagers are currently admitted in hospitals, an official said on Saturday.

The official added that the cause of "mysterious" deaths reported from the village since April is yet to be ascertained.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday directed health officials to declare a health emergency in Turakapalem, following "continuous mysterious deaths".

"In the last three days since September 2, there have been no deaths. Currently, five people from that village are admitted in hospitals. Four of them are in the GGH (Government General Hospital) and one person is in a private hospital," Guntur District Collector S Nagalakshmi told PTI.

A total of 29 people have died in Turakapalem since April, of whom one died in a road accident and five people because of old age-related issues, while the rest due to an unexplained cause.

Observing that the situation is under control now, Nagalakshmi said the village is being continuously monitored, with 50 medical teams and experts from AIIMS-Mangalagiri collecting blood samples from all adults to scrutinise 41 health parameters, such as kidney function, liver function, cholesterol and others.

Samples were collected from 1,000 people on Saturday and the rest of the villagers will be covered on Sunday.

On Saturday, the district administration procured food and water from outside the village and supplied three meals to the villagers, the collector said.

As many as 2,850 people were fed breakfast and 3,500 people lunch.

The collector said a fact-finding team also visited the village to ascertain the cause of the deaths and is expected to submit its report soon.

Doctors and experts from government and private hospitals are undertaking a death audit and studying the case sheets to arrive at a conclusion in a couple of days.

Until the expert report is submitted, Nagalakshmi said the district administration will provide food and water to the villagers for at least another four to five days.

Besides testing water in local laboratories, she said samples are being sent to higher laboratories, adding that initial reports have found no fault with the samples.

Turakapalem meets its water demand by tapping into bore wells as also from a few local water "filtering plants".

The district administration undertook an extensive sanitation and cleaning work in the village, which is also being inspected by other government wings, such as excise and animal husbandry departments.

The villagers have been guided on precautions to be taken before consuming food. PTI STH RC