Hazaribagh, May 19: As many as 276 students of a government school fell sick today after eating a midday meal of khichdi in which a lizard was found, a week after an identical episode in Deoghar where 19 children fell sick after a midday meal. Children of the school in Kansdar, 20km from here, were served their meal around 10.30am. Class IV student Amisha, who did not want to eat right then, packed the khichdi to eat later. When she went home and opened her lunch box, she found the lizard in it. She immediately rushed back to the school and informed the others. By then, the children were complaining of stomachache and nausea, leaving principal Ashok Kumar Pandey at the mercy of furious parents who demanded immediate treatment of their children. The parents confronted the school principal and got him to arrange transport to send 60 children to the sadar hospital for treatment. The others were treated at the primary health centre in Katkamsandi block. Two of the children had to be admitted to the hospital, while the rest were allowed to leave after being given medicines. Later, Pandey admitted that a small lizard had been found in the khichdi and said he was looking into the matter. A teacher, who did not wish to be identified, said the school had 350 students, eight teachers and two parateachers. According to him, cooks Gayatri Devi and Poonam Devi had prepared the khichdi and the lizard had fallen into it while it was being served. Sundar Ram, whose son was among those who fell ill, said the school should be charged with negligence. He demanded action against the culprits. In Deoghar, 19 students of a state-run primary school fell ill after eating a midday meal of khichdi that allegedly had a boiled lizard in it on May 10. According to sources at Kishnidehi Government Primary School in Mohonpur, the children were eating their meal when a boy noticed a lizard on his plate and raised an alarm.