Doctors attending to the poison victims of Sulvadi temple said, most of the patients are responding well to the treatment and are recuperating.
On Friday, 12 persons died while nearly a hundred persons, including 29 of them in critical condition, suffered from illness after consuming prasada distributed as part of the gopura installation ceremony of Kichugutti Maramma temple at Sulvadi village in Hanur taluk, Chamarajanagar district, on the border of Tamil Nadu.
The first death was reported at 2.30 pm on Friday. The number of death increased after evening.
Two persons, including a former Grama Panchayat member, have been taken into police custody, for inquiry in this connection.
Officials said, out of 79 registered people, 45 were admitted to six hospitals in Mysuru through the district HealDepartment. Another 15 persons have been admitted to hospitals on their own.
The patients are in KR Hospital, JSS Hospital, Apollo BGS Hospital, Suyog Hospital, Colombia Asia Hospital and Shanthaveri Gopalagowda Hospital.
District Health Officer Dr B Basavaraju said, through his department, 22 patients are in medical emergency wards (MEW), five in surgical intensive care unit (SICU) and two in medical ICU in KR Hospital.
“Four patients are in the JSS Hospital, four are in Colombia Asia Hospital, 11 in Apollo BGS Hospital, three in Suyog Hospital and two in Santhaveri Gopalgowda Hospital. All of them in the private hospitals are in ICUs,” he said.
Former chief minister Siddaramaiah visited the hospitals and interacted with the victims. He directed the doctors and the hospital staff to attend to the patients with care.
Temple closed
The Kicchuguttu Maramma temple, in Sulvadi remains closed for the devotees. Police security is upped near the temple.
Saturday morning a large number of people gathered near the temple.
(With inputs from Ranjith Kandya)