Thursday, around twenty students from the Fère-Champenoise primary school and an adult who accompanied them to the canteen were victims of an unknown illness, resulting in headaches, nausea and itching. Two children and the adult were transferred to Romilly-sur-Seine hospital. The phenomenon happened again this Friday. A new group of elementary school students showed the same symptoms.
The victims are much more numerous. Of the 170 children at the school, all tested, nearly 80 had too high a level of CO2 in their blood. Around forty presented different symptoms. Twenty-two children were transported, on oxygen, to hospitals in Épernay, Châlons-en-Champagne or Romilly-sur-Seine to be kept under observation overnight. Their condition is not considered worrying by emergency services.
Firefighters from all over Marne went to the site and set up a command post to sort and treat the sick. There were 68 from the entire department, including a doctor responsible for health checks on schoolchildren.
“ Two sectors were created, a ‘personal aid’ sector where the children from the two schools were brought together to take stock and decide whether or not to transport them to hospital.explains center head Guillaume Gruyer, and a ‘reconnaissance’ sector, whose mission is to find the Source of this intoxication. » The origin of the phenomenon is most likely carbon monoxide. The possibility of food poisoning has been ruled out; the children who did not eat in the canteen also fell ill.
A gas leak test was carried out on Thursday but nothing was detected and the DSDEN (Directorate of Departmental Services of National Education) authorized the children to return to school this Friday. This angered parents waiting anxiously to be able to recover their offspring. “ They should have closed the school yesterday already, annoys a mother. In addition, they don’t tell us anything, we wait, it’s anxiety. »
A lack of information which has been widely criticized by the school management. Many discovered the problem in the afternoon via our website or social networks. They also don’t understand why searches at school turned up nothing the day before. “ Thursday was one intervention, today is another, justifies Guillaume Gruyer. We take the elements from yesterday and today to see if there is a match or not. »
Around 4 p.m., the children were returned to their parents. It was not until 5:30 p.m. for those whose CO2 levels were too high to leave the nursery school where they were confined. A moment of relief for schoolchildren and parents alike. “ I had redness and it was itchyexplains Mathias. Already yesterday I was sick. So the police came to pick me up from school to bring me here. We did tests every twenty minutes to see if my CO2 level was going down or not.. » His mother, Noémie, will be in for a good scare.
Further research into the problem is underway. “ It may be a combustion problem but the boilers are shut downexplains the mayor, Gérard Gorisse. Thursday, we found nothing. The entire building is confined, to see if there is a rise in carbon monoxide. And we will retest with much more precise equipment. » Suez was dispatched to the site to check if the problem was not coming from the nearby sanitation network. This was not the case.
Many questions remain unanswered. Is carbon monoxide really responsible for these symptoms? Why are some children affected and not others? Will the school reopen soon (see below)? For this little boy returned to his dad, the problem is completely different. His bag remained inside the school. He won’t be able to do his homework. His father smiled: “ It worries him a lot but it’s not serious. » This weekend, the children of the Fère-Champenoise school will have free time.
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