In Fère-Champenoise, dozens of students as well as an adult have experienced strange symptoms in recent days.
Some had to be treated in hospital.
The authorities exclude several avenues, including that of the carbon monoxide leak.
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The 8 p.m.
Poisonings of unknown origin. To try to understand, firefighters analyze the air at the outlet of each sewer outlet in Fère-Champenoise. Tested for gas, carbon monoxide, pollutant, but for the moment, no response. However, around a hundred students in a school have indeed been victims of illness since Thursday, the investigation continues. “We will push until we find the Source since there is definitely an origin to what is happening”promises Commander Thomas Humbert, chemical risk manager for the Marne firefighters.
“There is a problem at Fère-Champenoise”
While waiting for the response, primary school students are enrolled in a nearby middle school. But many stayed with their parents on Tuesday. This is the case of Mila, 8 years old, who felt unwell last Thursday and Friday, before being hospitalized on Saturday, then being unwell again on Tuesday. “I had a headache and a stomach ache, then I felt dizzy. Some had patches, others had difficulty breathing”, explains the little girl to our microphone. Doctors initially told her mother it was carbon monoxide poisoning, before recanting. “Some had nausea which ended with vomiting. We keep in mind that there is a problem at Fère-Champenoise and we don’t know what it is”Mila’s mother worries.
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After the carbon monoxide trail, the analyzes carried out on the children proved insufficient. The discomfort occurred on the way to the canteen, either from school or from college.
This evening, the prefect promises a new investigation sentence. “We will therefore continue research with fixed sensors, both inside school buildings and in the open air”, announced the prefect of Marne, Henri Prévost. Only one child remained hospitalized on Tuesday, no illness was reported during the day. The primary school subject to analysis will remain closed all week.
