Over 50 students suffer mysterious poisoning in Mexico
Local authorities in Mexican state of Chiapas said on Sunday (October 9) that at least 57 students were poisoned due to an unidentified substance in a rural secondary school. The poisoning took place on Friday. What has scared students is that this is third poisoning at Chiapas school that was reported in media over the past two weeks.
According to the Mexican Social Security Institute, 57 teenage students in the rural community of Bochil had arrived at a local hospital with symptoms of poisoning. This institute said that one student was in “delicate” condition and was transferred to a hospital in the state’s capital.
Authorities did not speculate on a cause, but local news outlets said some parents believe the students were exposed to contaminated water or food.
“We are outraged by these events,” leaders of Bochil said in a statement, adding that they are collaborating with a state prosecutor’s investigation.
Videos showing chaotic scenes at the school made rounds on social media. They videos also showed adults carrying teenagers in school uniform through a hospital hallway.
The state prosecutor’s office said on social media on Saturday that it had conducted 15 toxicology exams which had all come out negative for illicit drugs, after reports circulated in local media and on social media that students had tested positive for cocaine.
In a Facebook video on Saturday, dozens of parents gathered at the basketball court of the secondary school, passing a microphone around as they demanded answers from authorities while over a dozen police, some with shields, looked on.
(With inputs from agencies)
