Since Thursday, May 30, more than sixty students from Fère-Champenoise, in Marne, have felt unwell while going to the canteen. The carbon monoxide poisoning route seems favored.
Same symptoms every day and still no response. In Fère-Champenoise, a small town in the Marne southwest of Châlons-en-Champagne, primary school students felt unwell during their journey to the canteen, during the last three days of school.
Thursday, May 30, 21 children and one adult suffered from vomiting and itching during the journey, the prefecture said in a press release on Monday, June 3. Even if their condition “did not cause concern”, two students and an adult were hospitalized for a few hours in Romilly-sur-Seine.
Dispatched to the site, emergency services cleared the doubt in the establishment and the students were able to return to the classrooms in the afternoon.
Same situation Friday and Monday
The next day, the situation occurred again: around twenty students suffered from the same symptoms at the beginning of the afternoon. This time, the 170 primary school students were tested by the firefighters. Among them, 22 were hospitalized and their carbon monoxide poisoning was confirmed, added the prefecture in a first press release before no longer mentioning it in a second.
While the origin of the poisoning was still unknown, the closure of the elementary school was decided by the authorities, the students being distributed this Monday, June 3 to different sites in the city. Despite everything, 19 students and one adult reported the same symptoms during the trip to the canteen.
The prefect then declared that the firefighters, the Samu and the environmental health services of the ARS were present on the site “looking for an origin of the poisoning outside the school grounds”. The sub-prefect is also expected there at the end of the afternoon, BFMTV learned.
“Carbon monoxide poisoning remains considered but all avenues are being studied,” wrote the prefecture in its second press release.
Tests were carried out on kindergarten and primary school students, while 10 students and one adult were hospitalized.
Pending results, CP, CE1 and CE2 students will continue to be welcomed at the town’s House of Associations and CM1 and CM2 students at the college. Lunch will take place at the college. This Tuesday, a listening cell available to students will be set up.
