Tumakuru: An 11-year-old boy died on Wednesday and 13 members of his family are currently in hospital after consuming prasad which they had cooked using water from the premises of the Veerabhadra Swamy temple, Nidagal, Pavagada taluk in Karnataka. The boy, Veerabhadra, allegedly passed away due to food poisoning.

Reports say that the victims, belonged to Gunemoorabagilu village in Madakshira taluk of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh.

Police said that one of the family members, Nagamma, stated that the family was told by the temple authorities that the water was safe for consuming.

According to police, the devotees used water from a small cement tank, to prepare food and then ate it as prasad on Monday. They had cooked rice, sambar, mudde and a sweet using the water. They also drank the same water. 20 devotees from the same family had visited the temple for puja.

The family completed all the rituals and returned to their village. A day later, they started developing stomach ache, diarrhea, vomiting and headache.

When medicines prescribed by a local doctor didn’t help, they went to a government hospital in Sira taluk.

Sadly, Veerabhadra was declared brought dead by doctors. Veerabhadra is the son of Thippeswamy and Kavitha, who are undergoing treatment in Tumakuru government hospital.

Dr Srinath, administrative medical officer at Sira taluk government hospital, told The Hindu that Thippeswamy has been shifted to the ICU and that the rest of the family members who were admitted are responding to treatment.

Three women and five children are among those hospitalised. Dr Chandrakala, District Health Officer visited the Sira hospital and said that the water might have been contaminated.

Reports say that the water used for cooking was nearly 10 days old. Samples of water from the temple were collected. Stool and blood samples from the patients have also been sent for testing.