Over 100 students hospitalized for food poisoning at Turkish state dorm

Duvar English

Students living at the state-run university dormitory of the Student Loans and Dormitories Institution (KYK) in Turkey’s Mediterranean Isparta province on Nov. 11 were admitted to various city hospitals with food poisoning symptoms, according to reporting by Anadolu Agency (AA). 

The Isparta Governor’s Office stated that 117 students from the state-run dorm were admitted with nausea, stomach ache, and diarrhea complaints on Nov. 11 after 8.30 p.m. in a statement. The dormitory cafeteria served a chicken dinner that night. 

The hospitals treated students at the emergency care units. The students were discharged and returned to their dormitories afterward. 

The governor’s report stated that 1,231 students were served dinner on Nov. 11 at the state-run dormitory. It also indicated that food samples from the dinner were taken for testing and that the Isparta attorney general’s office had initiated a judicial investigation in tandem with the Governor’s Office. 

Institutional neglect at Turkey’s state-run dormitories has been in the spotlight after the Oct. 26 elevator crash in the Aydın province that killed 22-year-old Zeren Ertaş. Students staying at state-run dormitories around the country protested the poor living conditions in their facilities. 

Instances of other elevator malfunctions, pest sightings, and food poisonings that followed Ertaş’s death demonstrated that the crash was not an unfortunate accident, but a result of long-term neglect.

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