50, mostly kids, taken ill by fumes in Camarines Norte school

NAGA CITY—At least 50 people, most of them children, were taken ill after inhaling what authorities said could be toxic gas in a school in the town of Basud, Camarines Norte province on Wednesday, according to police yesterday.

Senior Supt. Harris Fama, police provincial director of Camarines Norte, said the Basud police office was alerted about the suspected toxic gas emission in San Felipe Elementary School around 10 a.m. on June 17.

Fama said policemen who went to the school found at least 50 pupils and teachers suffering from stomachache, vomiting and nausea.

He said the foul smell was already gone when policemen got to the school. The victims likened the odor to that of fertilizer, a strong medicine or chemical.

Fama said police are still checking the source of the fumes, which were reported to have engulfed the school for at least 15 minutes.

The pupils and teachers were rushed to Camarines Norte Provincial Hospital in Daet town for treatment, with nine children requiring confinement.

The hospitalized children were found by doctors to have suffered from “inhalational intoxication,” according to Fama.