55 students poisoned by Vietnam War leftovers
HANOI - Fifty-five students between the ages of 11 and
14 have been poisoned over the past few days by
chemicals left over from the Vietnam War, a local police
source said on Wednesday.
The students, who studied at the Chu Van An school in
Dong Nai province, were hospitalised with respiratory
infections, vomiting and diarrhoea. An inquiry has been
launched by the local authorities, the source said.
They had been taken to hospital on Sunday and Monday
but there was no evidence any had died or were in
danger of doing so, the source said.
Local experts discovered the chemical, the identity of
which was not yet known, buried in an old military zone
close to the school.
According to them it was CS gas abandoned by
American troops and now used by local families to
control ants and termites.
Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of various chemicals left
over from the Vietnam War are often discovered in old
combat zones in the centre of the country.
Agence France Presse - December 14, 2000.
|