GEORGE TOWN, July 25 — A Voters Awareness Programme by the Election Commission (EC) at Politeknik Balik Pulau yesterday ended with 85 students being rushed to the hospital due to food poisoning.
One student was admitted to the Balik Pulau hospital while the others received outpatient treatment for food poisoning yesterday evening.
EC Chairman Azhar Azizan Harun issued an official apology for the incident today.
“The EC would like to express its regret, apology and sympathy to the students of Politeknik Balik Pulau,” he said in the statement.
He explained that a local food supplier was appointed to prepare lunch for the students, teachers and EC personnel for the event yesterday.
The event yesterday was held jointly with Politeknik Balik Pulau to create awareness on the process of elections in Malaysia involving 207 students.
“Following the incident, we have been informed by the Penang Health Department that they are investigating the cause of the incident,” he said.
He advised all students and teachers involved to seek medical assistance if they showed signs of food poisoning.
He thanked all those involved in handling the incident yesterday.
It was reported that students complained of stomach ache with signs of food poisoning at around 4pm yesterday.
Polytechnic personnel sent the affected students to Balik Pulau Hospital for outpatient treatment.
The students had eaten the lunch of rice, chicken, eggs and cabbage at about 11am.
