Panic gripped a film crew shooting for Ranveer Singh-starrer Dhurandhar in Leh district of Ladakh after over 100 people, mostly workers and including children and women, showed symptoms of food poisoning and were admitted to a hospital on Sunday.

The medical superintendent of SNM Hospital, Leh, Rinchen Shoshdol, said 116 patients with symptoms of food poisoning were admitted to her hospital, triggering an emergency during which off-duty doctors were asked to return to work immediately.

Videos from the hospital showed patients being treated in the wards as well as
in the corridors, with staff struggling to cope with the situation.

“The patients included children as young as 4 to 5 or 10. Most of them (workers) are middle-aged, and all are from other states. They are mostly labourers. There was some shooting where there was (a case of) food poisoning,” Shoshdol told reporters.

The doctor said patients complained about pain in the abdomen and headache,
and almost “everyone was vomiting”.

Due to a scarcity of space, several patients were transferred to other medical facilities, including the Chuchot Primary Health Centre and the Ladakh Heart Foundation, after they had stabilised.

Being Sunday, the hospital had a limited emergency staff, but the off-duty members returned to work at short notice, officials said.

Leh additional superintendent of police Regzin Sangdup told The Telegraph that the shoot of Dhurandhar was underway when the mass food poisoning incident unfolded.

“The food safety department has collected samples. It looks like there was some issue with the cheese and chicken. They were mostly working (for the film). None of them is serious,” he said.

Officials said around 600 people had meals at the location, but not all were served the same food. “Most of the patients have been discharged,” an official said.

The makers of the film had not reacted to the development till Monday evening.