At least two people have died and more than 700 have fallen ill due to food poisoning at a camp for displaced people near the Iraqi city of Mosul.

A woman and a girl died and at least 200 people were rushed from the desert tent camp to hospitals in the nearby city of Irbil.

An Iraqi politician who visited the camp overnight and Saudi state television have accused a charity from Qatar of providing the tainted food.

In Baghdad, health minister Adila Hamoud told The Associated Press that 752 people became ill after a meal the previous evening at the Hassan Sham U2 camp, about 13 miles east of Mosul.

In this frame grab from video, a man comforts his daughter as a doctor treats her after she was taken ill with suspected food poisoning in the Hassan Sham U2 camp (Balint Szlanko/AP)
(Balint Szlanko/AP)

The food was meant for an iftar, a meal with which Muslims break their dawn-to-dusk fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. Hamoud said at least 300 people remain in serious condition. She refused to speculate whether the poisoning might have been intentional.

Amira Abdulhaliq, from the United Nations’ refugee agency, said it remains unclear at which point in preparing, packaging, transporting or distributing the meals, the food became contaminated.

“So far, we have received around 800 cases, around 200 have been transported to the hospitals in Irbil,” she said.

At midday on Tuesday, medics were treating patients in a large tent at the edge of the camp. About 20 to 30 patients, mostly small children, lay on blankets on the floor as several more serious cases were being ferried away by ambulances.

In this frame grab from video, a woman looks at her daughter who was taken ill with suspected food poisoning in the Hassan Sham U2 camp (Balint Szlanko/AP)
(Balint Szlanko/AP)

At least one new patient was brought in during the day. Most of those afflicted were suffering from stomach cramps and dehydration, resulting from vomiting and diarrhoea.

Raad al-Dahlaki, who chairs the Iraqi parliament’s immigration and displacement committee and who visited the camp overnight, said the meal contained rice, a bean sauce, meat, yoghurt and water. He put the number of ill people at 850.

Mr Al-Dahlaki said the food was distributed by a Qatari non-governmental organisation, a charity known as RAF. He added that Iraqi officials were to meet those from the organisation later on Tuesday. The Doha-based charity did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

At a joint press conference later in the camp, Irbil police chief Abdulhaleq Talaat said seven people were arrested in connection with the incident.

Talaat and Hadi said the food was prepared in an Irbil restaurant by a local NGO, Ain el Muhtajeen, under a donation by RAF. Dr Sabur Ahmed, head of Irbil children’s hospital, said 22 children remained in hospital while the rest have been discharged.

On Twitter, Saudi state television accused RAF of supplying the tainted meals and posted images it said showed the camp’s children “poisoned by the terrorist Qatari RAF organisation”.