150 People Fall Ill With Food Poisoning After Party At Buddhist Monastery
NEW YORK(CBSNewYork/AP) -- At least 150 people who attended a Mother's Day garden party at an upstate New York Buddhist monastery have fallen ill with food poisoning.
Eric Gross, spokesman for the Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services, says about 700 people were at the festival at Chuang Yen Monastery in Kent Cliffs, 55 miles north of New York City.
About 500 of them came on buses from Chinatown.
Gross says people starting getting sick with vomiting and diarrhea around 3:30 p.m. Sunday after they had left the party on buses bound for Woodbury Commons shopping outlets. As of 7 p.m., Gross said 150 had been taken to hospitals in Putnam, Orange and Westchester counties.
Officials told 1010 WINS reporter Sonia Rincon that the food at the event was home cooked. It is believed that rice balls made with stir-fried vegetables were the dish that caused the food poisoning.
1010 WINS reporter Sonia Rincon spoke with officials...
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Officials urged people who attended the party and feel ill to call the Putnam County Health Department: 845-808-1390.
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