Suspected food poisoning case girl dies

Indian police say a girl who was taken ill along with nearly 500 other people after eating what is suspected to be poisonous food has died.

The victim, a 13-year-old schoolgirl, died two days after attending a peace rally in the north eastern state of Assam where the suspected contaminated food was eaten.

Some of the other ill people - many of them children - are in a serious condition.

A team of doctors and paramedics have gone to help.

The state health department suspects that the snacks given to people who attended the rally in Barpeta district made them ill and the government has ordered an inquiry.

About 1,000 people took part in the peace rally, organised by the state government after separatist rebels threatened to disrupt celebrations next week marking India's Independence Day.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service