(AFP file photo )
Two top Al-Azhar University officials are set to face trial on 19 June for alleged involvement in the latest food poisoning incident involving more than 100 students.
The two officials facing trial are Head of the university dorms, Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim, and Adel Mahmoud, who is responsible for students’ nutrition. They are being tried for negligence and causing food poisoning, state-run Al-Ahram reported.
Last April, hundreds of Al-Azhar students suffered food poisoning in two separate incidents after eating meals prepared by the university. An investigation launched into the second incident concluded that the cause of the food poisoning was the Salmonella bacteria.
University students were enraged after the first incident, which left nearly 600 students with food poisoning. Following the incident, students were promised the Head of the University Osama El-Abd would soon be replaced through elections. Although the incident took place nearly two months ago, elections have not yet been held.
Al-Azhar students have long complained of negligence, and those staying in the university dorms had demanded an improvement to food and sanitation quality before these events took place.
Al-Azhar is not the only university in which students suffered food poisoning from the university’s kitchens.
Students at Zagazig University were also victims of food poisoning last Friday. A committee to look into the cause stated on Monday in its report that the conditions at its dorm kitchens are “unacceptable”.
