ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia: Mongolian authorities have temporarily closed all KFC restaurants in the country after more than 200 customers suffered food poisoning symptoms and dozens were hospitalized.
The first cases emerged earlier this month, with 16 people showing symptoms of food poisoning, including diarrhea, vomiting and high fever after eating at the fried chicken franchise.
Ulaanbaatar’s Metropolitan Professional Inspection Department said 247 similar cases have been reported and 42 people have been hospitalized.
The department decided to shut down the country’s 11 KFC restaurants — all based in the capital — while it investigates what happened.
A preliminary investigation found that 35 employees at a restaurant were not thoroughly vetted to handle food, with most of them having blank medical examination reports, which is illegal. The restaurant also lacked internal hygiene management.
A strong bacteria known as Klebsiella spp was detected in water at the restaurant. Traces of E-coli were also found in a soda machine, and four people contracted the Shigella germ — which causes diarrhea and fever — after coming into contact with KFC staff.
Mongolia shuts KFC after dozens hospitalized
Mongolia shuts KFC after dozens hospitalized
- More than 200 customers suffered food poisoning symptoms and dozens were hospitalized
- A preliminary investigation found that 35 employees at a restaurant were not thoroughly vetted to handle food
Trunk snapped off famed Bernini statue in Rome square
ROME, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A marble elephant designed by Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini has been damaged, with its left tusk found snapped off and lying at the base of the monument in the heart of Rome, authorities said.
The damage was uncovered on Monday night and police said they would review video footage from Piazza della Minerva to determine whether the tusk was vandalised or simply fell off following weeks of unusually heavy rains.
Italy's Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli made clear he thought it was deliberate, saying the 17th statue, which supports an ancient Egyptian obelisk, was victim of an "absurd act of barbarity".
"It is unacceptable that once again the nation's artistic and cultural heritage must suffer such serious damage," he said in a statement.
It is not the first time the sculpture, popularly known as the Elefantino (little elephant), has been damaged.
In November 2016, the tip of the same tusk was similarly found broken off. The piece was reattached during restoration work.
The sculpture, created in 1667 by Ercole Ferrata based on a design by Bernini, stands a short distance from the Pantheon, one of most visited tourist sites in Rome. (Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Crispian Balmer)
