Autopsies preformed on 22 children, who died earlier this week after eating tainted school lunch at a government school in India, confirmed reports that the insecticide was the cause, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Authorities discovered a container of pesticide in the school's cooking area. The container was next to the vegetable cooking oil and mustard oil. Palna Medical College hospital superintendent Amarkant Jha Amar said that although it was clear the children died from insecticides, results are still pending to determine the exact chemicals.
"It's not a case of food positioning," he said. "It's a case of poison in food in a large quaintly, going by the instant deaths."
The Bihar state education minister, P.K. Sahi, said Wednesday that the food served to the children contained an organophosphate used as an insecticide on rice and wheat crops. He said it was believed the rice has not been washed before it was served to the children, according to USA Today.
Police are searching for the principal who fled from the school after the students started getting sick.
The cooks, Manju Devi and Pano Devi, told the Associated Press the principal controlled the food for the free daily lunch. On Tuesday morning she gave them rice, potatoes, lentils, soy and other ingredients needed to prepare the meal and then went about her business. As the children ate, one by one, they began fainting the cooks said.
The cooks were not spared. Manju Devi, 30 who ate some food and also fainted. So did her three children ages 5,8, and 13. They're currently in stable condition according to the Huffington Post. Two of Pano Devi daughters died from the tainted food and the third remains hospitalized.
"I will likely stop cooking at the school," she told the AP. "I am so horrified that I would grieve more if my only surviving child died."
The 25 children and the school cooks are still being treated in the hospital. According to Fox News, they're are unlikely to suffer from any serious after affects from the tainted food.
"There will be no remnant effects on them," Amar said. "The effects of poisoning will be washed after a certain period of time from the tissue."
India's mid-day meat scheme is one of the world's biggest school nutrition programs. It was first introduced in the 1690's in southern India. The program serves over 120 million children.
