Almost 59 children were treated at the Bongani Hospital in Welkom after ingesting biscuits laced with an unknown drug.
Several learners of the Daluvuyo Primary School in Thabong, Welkom, suddenly fell ill on Wednesday, 6 November, after buying biscuits from food vendors who sit outside of the school premises.
Tebogo Modisenyane, a teacher at the school, says the learners all started complaining of feeling ill. Some presented severe allergic reactions, while others began to vomit.
“There were initially 49 learners taken to Bongani hospital, and three remained in hospital; 46 were discharged and sent home. However, later the day ten more started to become ill and were all admitted to hospital,” he says.
In a video that was released on Facebook, teachers at the school found unidentified oval shaped, white tablets in the biscuits that are believed to have caused the children to become ill.
Modisenyane says the police are investigating the incident, and a representative of the Lejweleputswa health department visited the school.
Mondli Mvambi, spokesperson for the Free State health department, confirms that learners of Daluvuyo were presented at the Bongani Regional Hospital on Wednesday morning.
He says these children are suspected to have consumed cookies with tablets inside.
“The department has dispatched environmental health practitioners into the area to investigate and pick up any evidence that can be linked to the ailments of these children, and any other thing that places the lives of people in danger,” he says.
