Advertisement

29 Al-Azhar students contract food poisoning

Egypt

Twenty-nine female students from Al-Azhar University's branch in Luxor contracted food poisoning, the third such case in a year for the influential Islamic university.

The students were hospitalised and the majority of them have been released after treatment. Nine students remain under hospital supervision.

The food poisoning was caused by poor food storage, according to Al-Ahram's Arabic news website.

Last year, almost 700 students at Al-Azhar's main campus in Cairo contracted food poisoning in two incidents less than a month apart.

The scandal led to university officials being tried for negligence and also prompted mass demonstrations by students, some of whom called for the sacking of Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb, who oversees Al-Azhar's religious-educational system in Egypt.

The head of the university was sacked following the incidents.