Cases of mass poisoning in girls’ schools put Iran on alert
The increase in cases of mass poisoning in schools attended by female students in Iran is a matter of great concern.
It was claimed that the cases of mass poisoning in cities like Çharmahal and Bakhtiari and Ardebil, especially in Kum and Burucerd, were more recently experienced in Tehran. Students at Zeyneb Yolu primary school in the capital’s 13th district were also reported to have been poisoned after news broke in local media about the poisoning of 35 students studying at Khayyam Girls’ Secondary School in Perdis.
‘ALL STUDENTS MUST SLEEP UPSTAIRS’
According to the news on the “Sharghdaily” website, which is known for its closeness to reformist Canada in Iran, one of the parents of the students confirmed the poisoning case that occurred yesterday. The student’s father, whose name was not revealed, explained that his daughter was studying on the 3rd floor of the school, and that after a case of poisoning on that floor, students studying in a classroom on the first floor also weakened.
The parents of the students stated that the emergency teams arrived at the school and took some students to the hospital.
Expressing that the cause of the incident is still unclear, the father said, “As my daughter told me, there were no specific symptoms or at least my daughter doesn’t know. “Seemingly without any symptoms, all the kids in the class suddenly fell asleep.”
Official authorities have not yet ruled on how many people were poisoned at the school in question.
HEALTH MINISTER: POISON DETECTED
According to Iran’s semi-official Tesnim news agency, Health Minister Bahram Aynullahi said in a statement on the subject that the poisoning cases were mild, no complications occurred and the affected people felt weakness and lethargy for several hours.
Noting that a commission was created to investigate the issue, Aynullahi stated that during the investigations they found that a “poison with low efficacy” was used in the aforementioned events.
Aliriza Monadi Sefidan, chairwoman of the Parliamentary Commission for Education, Research and Technology, also informed that her commission held a joint meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Education, Health and Intelligence on the problem of poisoning of students in Kum, Burucerd and some other cities. .
Stating that “a low-dose poison is used to poison a small amount” in the cases, Sefidan said, “Based on the results of monitoring and testing, it was determined that N2 (diazot) gas was found in the poison used in the schools”.
IMPRESSED OVER 900 STUDENTS
In the list published by the “Khabar_fouri” Telegram channel and showing the poisoning cases, it was stated that about 850 students in many cities were affected by the incident.
Following the publication of the list of dates, places and numbers, the news spread that more than 50 students were poisoned. Official authorities have not provided any information on the number so far.
The poisoning cases, the first of which took place in the city of Qom on November 30, have been seen in regions including Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Sari, Qazvin, Erdebil, Torbet Cam, Kuçan and Verdencan, as well as Tehran. (AA)