KOCHI: Kottayam native Rahul D Nair died while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kakkanad the other day. On Thursday, the hospital filed a report with the police and the health department stating that food poisoning from shawarma might have caused the death of the youth.

The presence of Salmonella bacteria was found in the examination of blood samples. It is a bacteria that gets mixed with blood due to food-borne infection. However, no other toxicity was detected in the samples. The report also did not specify that the death occurred due to food poisoning. A post-mortem report should be obtained for this. The post-mortem was completed yesterday afternoon at Kalamasery Govt. Medical College. The body was then handed over to the relatives.

The police are investigating whether any others similarly sought treatment for food poisoning at any nearby hospitals. The police will collect information on those who sought treatment for food poisoning from the 18th from the hospital where Rahul died and then from the private hospital where he was treated. Rahul, who was working at Kakkanad Industrial Park, died at 2.55 pm on Wednesday.

Sample of ingredients collected
The Food Safety Department collected the sample of water and ingredients from the Le Hyatt Hotel in Mavelipuram, Kakkanad, from where Rahul bought the shawarma online. The result is yet to come. Although the incident took place on October 18th, the Food Safety Department received the complaint only on the 23rd. By then, the Thrikkakara Municipal Corporation had shut down the hotel. Therefore, food safety officials were not able to collect the samples of shawarma eaten by Rahul.