Pokhara, May 15:

Two persons died and more than 70 have fallen ill after they ate contaminated food in Borlang VDC of Gorkha on last Tuesday.

According to a local Narayan Shrestha, the incident took place after members of the Newar community in Ward Nos 3, 4, 5 and 9 of Borlang VDC consumed contaminated food after attending a community festival on Tuesday. “How the food turned to be poisonous is still not clear,” Shrestha said.

Those who consumed the food after the festival suffered from headache, fever and diarrhoea, Shrestha said adding that Hira Shrestha, 29, died yesterday while he was being rushed to hospital after he fell ill. Another Tul Bahadur Shrestha, 51, died while being taken to Kathmandu for treatment, a source at the Gorkha hospital said.

Doctor of the hospital Bikas Jaisi said the duo died of food poisoning. Of the 36 patients who had been brought to the hospital, 11 have been rushed to Kathmandu for further treatment while the others are undergoing treatment here.

A team of health workers had reached the village for primary treatment after they learnt about the incident. The Newars of the VDC had begun the ceremony on May 10 and the festivity ended on May 13. “On the occasion, we had consumed buffalo and goat meat, pickle, curry and homemade wine,” Krishna Bahadur Shrestha, a bedridden person, said.