Food poisoning strikes Turkish children 2 hours, 25 minutes ago

About 700 Turkish school children were hospitalized Thursday for apparent food poisoning, health authorities said.

The children were taken to hospitals in the western Turkish province of Balikesir when they began vomiting after a lunch that included chicken, said Mehmet Caliskan, the highest local health authority in Balikesir. None of the students were in critical condition, media reports said.

The children were at several different schools in the town of Ivrindi and other villages in Balikesir province, but all of those schools were served by the same catering company, the state-run Anatolia news agency said.

Authorities mobilized several buses to carry children to hospitals. Some children had to be treated in hospital corridors because of a lack of beds, Anatolia said.

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.