Contaminated water kills 9, hospitalizes 200 in India's Indore city

Women cried as the body of a victim was carried to his residence in the Indian city of Indore on Friday (January 2), one of at least nine people who died after a diarrhea outbreak officials linked to contaminated drinking water.

Kailash Vijayvargiya, a lawmaker, said nine people had died in Indore.

Indore's chief medical officer, Madhav Prasad Hasani, told Reuters by phone that drinking water in the Bhagirathpur area was contaminated due to a leak. A water test confirmed the presence of bacteria in the pipeline.

"I cannot say anything on the death toll but yes over 200 people from the same locality are undergoing treatment at different hospitals of the city. The final report of the water sample collected from the affected area is awaited," Hasani said.

Shravan Verma, the district administrative officer, said authorities had deployed teams of doctors for door-to-door screening and were distributing chlorine tablets to help purify water.

Indore, in Madhya Pradesh state, has been named India's cleanest city and has topped the national cleanliness rankings for the past eight years.

Production: Yogendran Sandiran/Reuters