Hyderabad, As many as 40 children were taken ill after eating pani puri in Adilabad town of Telangana on Monday night, officials said here on Tuesday.

The children, aged aged 5-10 years, are undergoing treatment at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in the town, about 300 km from here.

RIMS Director Balram Banoth said condition of two children was serious, but under control. "The children are out of danger. But it will take 24 hours for total improvement," he said.

According to the police, the children in Khurshid Nagar and Sundarayya Nagar areas had pani puri from a pushcart vendor. After some time they started vomiting and suffered diarrhea. They were rushed to the hospital. By 11 p.m, the number of ill children increased to 40.

Two-three elders, who had also consumed pani puri, complained of stomach pain.

The vendor was selling pani puri (fried puff-pastry balls filled with spiced mashed potato, spiced water and tamarind juice) in violation of the lockdown restrictions, said municipal officials.

Some contamination in water or other material used by the vendor to make pani puri could have caused the illness, they added.