At least 183 hospitalized after food poisoning in Madagascar

ANTANANARIVO, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 183 people were affected by food poisoning at a company in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, with no deaths reported so far, a senior Malagasy official said Thursday evening.

Ogascar Fenosoa Mandrindrarivony, Magagascar's minister of communication and culture, made the remarks to the press on the sidelines of his visit to the affected people, who were hospitalized following the incident.

Mandrindrarivony said that all those affected were employees of the company. According to the minister's preliminary hypothesis, they may have consumed a meal served at the company canteen, which could have been the source of the food poisoning.

He also said that samples had been taken and were being analyzed, with the results still pending, noting that the incident was a case of food poisoning rather than deliberate poisoning.

Several government officials have visited the hospital to inquire about the situation, and the government is covering the victims' medical expenses, the minister added.