160 Takhar schoolgirls poisoned

TALOQAN (PAN): About 160 students and four teachers from a girl’s school were poisoned and had to be rushed to the hospital in the northern province of Takhar, but authorities are baffled why the students were targeted, officials said on Tuesday.

The Ahindara Girls High School students suffered from poisoning on Tuesday morning and were brought to the Takhar Civil Hospital, head of the hospital, Habibullah Rostaqi, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Four female teachers were also affected from the poisoning.

Twenty students are still admitted in the hospital, while the others were discharged, he said, adding that their blood samples were sent to Kabul for investigation.

Nearly 1,200 students are studying in the school.

Education director Abdul Wahab Zafari said they were not sure why the students were targeted and how the poisoning happened in the school.    

“I suddenly felt dizzy and fell to the ground,” said Tahira, an 8th grade student.

These incidents create fear among female students and their families, said Zainab Mubariz, head of human rights department at the police headquarters.

She urged the education department to allow the students to go on leave for few days so that a thorough investigation could be carried out on the incident.

“When I entered the school, I saw some students in bad condition. Later I felt dizzy and fell unconscious,” said Jamila, a student from the school.

Last week 120 students and three teachers of the Bibi Hajira high school were poisoned in the city. Two days ago, 43 students of the same school suffered poisoning again.

myn/vp

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