Scandal at the Security Academy / Number of students hospitalized rises to 64, AKU also under investigation

The number of students suspected of being poisoned by food consumed at the Security Academy, which was supplied through catering by the company SORI-AL, has risen to 64. It is learned that, in addition to the first 60 cadets, four others have also gone to the emergency room with the same symptoms.

In addition to SORI-AL, which delivers catered food to the Academy, sources say the investigation has also been extended to the AKU institution. Today, the company’s administrator, Alma Tafani, is expected to be questioned. Since the first student poisoning incident, she has been under criminal investigation while remaining at liberty.

Meanwhile, the investigative team is awaiting the results of tests on food samples taken by AKU in order to determine the causes that led to the poisoning of 64 students.

The Tirana Police and Prosecutor’s Office are also continuing their investigation to determine the full causes of this incident, while the case file on the second poisoning incident is expected to be merged into a single case with the first poisoning at the Security Academy, an event that occurred at the beginning of May this year.

The first time this scandal occurred, around 52 students who had consumed food supplied by SORI-AL’s catering service were poisoned. Analysis of the samples taken showed that the pasta was contaminated with Escherichia coli and staphylococcus bacteria. AKU then initially suspended the company’s operations and fined it 1.5 million lek for unsafe food and inappropriate hygiene and sanitary conditions.

However, a few days later, it lifted the suspension on the company’s operations after tests on samples for environmental hygiene and work equipment inside the kitchen facilities of the Security Academy showed results within the permitted hygiene standards.