A five-year-old child has died and more than 800 people have been hospitalized after eating poisoned food at a restaurant outside Jordan capital, Amman.
These first cases were detected in the Ain al-Bashra area of northwest Amman on Monday evening, health officials said.
The child suffered heart failure and doctors were unable to save him, Mohammad Abed, the director of Prince Hussein Hospital, told Petra news agency.
The restaurant located in Baqaa had been offering cut-price shawarmas, the rotisserie meat snack, local media stated.
Health officials found that the meat had become infected because it was not refrigerated, and laboratory tests had shown bacteria in the meat and poultry.
“Laboratory tests carried out by specialized investigation teams from the General Food and Drug Administration showed bacteria in the meat and poultry.” Health Ministry official Adnan Ishaq told state television.
Health Minister Saad Jaber said, “A five-year-old boy died of massive poisoning and at least 100 people had been hospitalized by Tuesday morning before the number reached 700 by Wednesday morning.
However, the owner of the restaurant and three others selling the popular rotisserie meat and bread snacks in Baqa’a district northwest of the capital have been arrested and detained.
Jordan has been experiencing high temperatures in recent days, with Amman exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit).
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