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View all search resultsCalls grow for tighter food safety in free meal program after child’s death
A nine-year-old boy in Lampung recently died after choking on a longan fruit distributed as part of the initiative, marking the first reported death linked to the program.
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Students eat meal packages distributed under the free nutritious meal program on Aug. 4 at SDN 106162 state elementary school in Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra. (Antara/Yudi Manar)
C
alls to review the fruit served under Indonesia’s free nutritious meal program have emerged after a nine-year-old boy in Lampung died after choking on a longan fruit distributed as part of the initiative, marking the first reported death linked to the program.
The incident occurred on Tuesday morning at SDN 03 Poncowarno State Elementary School in Poncowarno village, Central Lampung regency, according to police.
“The boy, Reyhan Arisyah Putra, was eating longan from a government-provided meal package while playing and running inside his classroom when he choked,” said M. Prenanta Al Ghazali, head of the criminal investigation unit at the Central Lampung police, as quoted by Kompas.id.
Reyhan sought help from classmates and school staff, who tried to assist him but were unable to dislodge the fruit, police said.
School officials took him to a nearby community health center before he was referred to a hospital for further treatment, but he was later pronounced dead, police said.
Prenanta said police had launched an investigation into the incident. Officers have visited the school and questioned several witnesses. The family, however, declined to have an autopsy conducted on Reyhan’s body.
Read also: More than 1,700 students and teachers sickened this week due to free meals
