Baripada, Nov. 2: The Mayurbhanj district administration has ordered a probe into the death of two children after consuming midday meal at an anganwadi centre yesterday.

The deceased have been identified as Kajal Behera and Siba Behera, both around four years of age. The children were residents of Jamadasahi village at Joshipur block.

The incident has sparked tension in the area as it took place in the wake of several other midday meal related controversies in the state.

Autopsy of the bodies was carried out last night and the report is awaited, said a district administration official.

District collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil has asked for a probe. The sub-collector and the district social welfare officer, along with a medical team, visited the village for scrutiny.

Sub-collector Bhuban Bihari Sahu said: “We are making a detailed inquiry into the incident. At the moment, nothing can be said.”

One of the deceased’s family members said the children had returned home yesterday from the anganwadi centre. Both Kajal and Siba were playing at their village. Suddenly, they started complaining of stomach-ache, which was followed by vomiting and loose motion. Their family members took them to nearby government hospital at Joshipur after they had complained of giddiness along with the other symptoms. As their health condition deteriorated they were being transferred to Karanjia hospital.

But, the children died on way to the medical facility.

“The children were quite fit and fine. They died after consuming the midday meals. We want a fair probe into the incident,” said a family member of Siba.

The district collector said: “The deceased took the cooked meal along with other children at the anganwadi centre. Others had no compliant. Moreover, we also got both of them checked by doctors. Nothing abnormal was detected at that time. However, the deceased developed problems two hours after returning from the centre.”

The collector said he had initiated a probe.

“The sub-collector, medical officers and the district social welfare officer are making a spot-inquiry at the village. We will wait for the post-mortem report,” he said.