Vomiting, headaches and itching… Since last Thursday, this is the list of symptoms which have affected nearly a hundred students at the Fère-Champenoise primary school (Marne). Last Thursday and Friday, twenty of them were even placed on oxygen in the schoolyard and then hospitalized for additional examinations. The prefecture then indicated that their state of health “was not worrying”.
The carbon monoxide trail
But this Monday morning, around twenty children were once again affected by the same illnesses before being rescued by the firefighters. The services of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) are on site. The cause of the symptoms could be carbon monoxide poisoning. Of the 170 children tested, around sixty of them had too high a CO2 level in their blood. As for the possibility of a food infection, it has been ruled out. A first test carried out to detect a possible gas leak was therefore carried out on Thursday but no anomaly was detected.
The mayor of the town, in agreement with the National Education services, has decided to allow the establishment to close until further notice. Temporary reception solutions have been put in place to avoid “educational disruption”. The House of Associations and the college rooms have been requisitioned to continue to accommodate students in good health. Investigations are continuing to determine the Source of the gas emission which caused the discomfort of all these young schoolchildren, aged 6 to 11 years old.
