June 18, 2017•Update: June 18, 2017
MANISA, Turkey
More than 20 people from a Turkish catering company have been arrested over a suspected mass food-poisoning incident at a military base, a prosecutor said on Sunday.
The chief public prosecutor of Manisa province, western Turkey, Akif Celalettin Simsek, said initial reports suggested over 730 military personnel needed medical attention after a dinner on Saturday.
Simsek said 21 people working for a catering company -- including executives and quality-control officials -- had been detained as part of an investigation into the incident at Manisa First Infantry Training Brigade Command.
Manisa governor’s office said in a statement that 24 soldiers were still being treated after most of the other troops had been discharged from several hospitals. None of the military personnel were thought to be in a critical condition.
Governor Mustafa Hakan Guvencer told Anadolu Agency earlier in the day it was too early to identify poisoning as a cause of the soldiers’ vomiting and nausea.
"We cannot make an official statement now about the reason of the disease and diagnosis; we are waiting for laboratory results," he said.
Defense Minister Fikri Isik, during a speech at the Turkish parliament, said he had listened to soldiers' testimonies, adding some had told him they had fallen ill even though "they had not consumed any food".
Isık went on to say the military was looking into all possible causes, including poisoning. The army’s contract with the catering company has been terminated, he added.
Manisa Metropolitan Municipality also issued a statement, saying it had started to provide packed food to nearly 6,000 soldiers in the military base three times a day.
On May 24, over 1,000 soldiers in the same area were affected by poisoning and nearly 200 were hospitalized, according to the defense minister.
Reporting by Zekeriya Gunes, Alper Atalay and Ismail Cimen; Writing by Ilker Girit
