Several students of the Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) school in Kolyapakala in Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada district fell ill and were hospitalised on Wednesday, September 7. According to reports, as many as 30 middle-school students complained of suffocation and breathlessness, and a few fell unconscious. The students were immediately shifted to the Government General Hospital in Kakinada where their condition is now reportedly stable. While officials had at first suspected a gas leak from a nearby factory to be the cause, this was ruled out by District Collector Kritika Shukla following a gas detection test at the school premises.

One student told The New Indian Express that they noticed a foul smell in the classroom at around 9.15 am. Following this, the students began complaining of suffocation, and they were immediately rushed to hospital. Blood and urine samples of the affected students have been sent for testing to ascertain the cause of the incident, officials said.

A panel of experts including Andhra Pollution Control Board Executive Engineer N Ashok Kumar, Deputy Chief Inspector of Factories D Radha Krishna, DEO (District Education Officer) Datla Subhadra and Assistant Food Control Officer B Srinivas has been formed to probe into the incident, TNIE reported. The panel has ruled out pollution from nearby factories, chemicals or food adulteration as the cause for the mysterious illness, the Collector said in a statement.

Several politicians visited the school to take stock of the situation, and Andhra Education Minister Botcha Satyanarayana has instructed Kakinada District Collector Kritika Shukla to ensure good treatment is provided to all the affected students. Meanwhile, the principal of the school, Bonta Sekhar, told The Hans India that the expert panel has collected water, air and other samples from the school premises for testing, to determine the cause. He also ruled out a chemical leak from the school laboratory.