Twenty-three Koya children below the age of ten, who fell ill hours after they were given chloroquine tablets at a medical camp, were moved from the Lakshmipuram Primary Health Centre to the Bhadrachalam Area Hospital in neighbouring Telangana on Wednesday (September 2, 2026).

They were among 52 people, 47 of them children, who reported vomiting and severe breathing difficulty after taking the tablets at the camp at Gollaguppa village in Yetapaka mandal of Polavaram district on Tuesday. A seven-year-old girl, Madivi Jamuna, died that day. Chintoor ITDA Project Officer Subham Nokwal confirmed the girl’s death to The Hindu.

Doctors from the Lakshmipuram PHC had held the camp on Tuesday to prevent the spread of malaria in the village.

Polavaram District Collector K. Dinesh Kumar said on Wednesday: “As many as 23 children have been shifted from Lakshmipuram PHC to Bhadrachalam Area Hospital for better medical treatment. However, their health condition is out of danger.”

Special teams of doctors have been deployed at Gollaguppa to monitor the health of the villagers.

How preventive dose sent a village to hospital

Health workers from the Lakshmipuram PHC gave chloroquine tablets to 71 people in Gollaguppa on Tuesday as a preventive measure after at least five malaria cases were reported from the village, according to a release from the Public Relations Department. Within hours, villagers, most of them children, began falling ill. Twenty-eight were taken to the Bhadrachalam hospital that day and 24 admitted to the Lakshmipuram PHC; Wednesday’s transfer moved almost all of the PHC’s patients to Bhadrachalam.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu spoke to health officials and the Collector late that night and ordered a comprehensive inquiry, and a nine-member team from the Kakinada Government General Hospital and three specialist teams from Vijayawada, Rajamahendravaram and Kakinada were sent to the area. Officials denied social media reports of a second death.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the incident at Gollaguppa village in Polavaram district following reports that a girl died after allegedly reacting adversely to an anti-malaria tablet (chloroquine).

The Chief Minister, late on Tuesday (September 1, 2026), spoke to senior officials of the Health and Medical Department and the district Collector to ascertain the facts and directed them to ensure the best possible medical treatment for all those affected.

Officials told Mr. Naidu that medicines had been distributed to 71 people in the village. Of those who fell ill, 29 were taken to the Bhadrachalam Area Hospital in neighbouring Telangana for treatment, while another 24 were receiving treatment at the Lakshmipuram Primary Health Centre.

A medical camp was set up in the village immediately after the authorities learnt about the incident, and medical examinations were conducted on residents.

The Chintoor ITDA Project Officer, the ASP and other officials visited the Bhadrachalam hospital and asked about the condition of the affected persons. Officials said the health condition of all the patients was stable and clarified that reports claiming two deaths were untrue.

Senior officials have dispatched a nine-member medical team from the Kakinada Government General Hospital. Collector K. Dinesh said three more specialised teams had left from Vijayawada, Rajamahendravaram and Kakinada.

The Chief Minister ordered a comprehensive inquiry into the incident.