Teacher, 19 students collapse at school

NINETEEN students as well as a female teacher — all from the Robert Village Hindu School — had to be taken to Hospital yesterday for emergency treatment when they fell ill and complained of nausea and dizziness moments after a pineapple field which is near the school, was sprayed with insecticide. Things got so bad at one stage, school teacher Geeta Ragoonath fainted in class before her horrified Standard Two pupils. Some students also vomited and suffered from stomach and chest pains. The incident happened around 10 am after a pineapple field, located some 300 feet from the school, was sprayed with insecticides around 7 am. A mixture of chemicals, including Malatine, was sprayed on the large plantation.

This is the latest case in which students had to be taken to hospital after inhaling noxious fumes and comes on the heels of an incident at another school in the south where students fell ill after breathing in fumes from a can of deodorant spray. An EHS ambulance was summoned to the school yesterday in the hope that medical technicians could assist. But the situation worsened when Ragoonath fainted and some pupils began vomiting in their classrooms. The teacher and 19 pupils were subsequently taken to Princes Town District Health Facility. “The area where the school is located it is very breezy,” a parent explained. “So when the insecticide was sprayed, fumes engulfed the surrounding area including the school.”

Schoolgirl Alisha Ali, nine, in recalling the incident,  told Newsday: “It was a bad smell, something like poison. Children and teachers started to get belly aches and began to vomit. Some even fainted too.” School officials also called for assistance from the Fire Services. The Ministry of Education was contacted and a report made. A report from school authorities revealed that 38 pupils were affected by chemical inhalation. Nineteen of them and the female teacher, had to be taken to Hospital. The pupils remained at the district Hospital for two hours where they were administered oxygen and injections. By noon, many of them were discharged after being given prescriptions for Panadol and Histatussin. Ragoonath was administered intravenous drips and transferred to the San Fernando General Hospital for further treatment. 

Distraught parents complained to Newsday yesterday that their children were exposed to the poisonous fumes while they were in their classrooms.  Angela Ali said she was not taking the incident lightly since it affected her child as well as other students. “I am not taking this lightly because this should not have happened to my child. My daughter vomited five times already and even vomited blood. She started shaking, like she was having a fit. Something has to be done about this,” the angry woman said.  Another parent, Joycie Lalchan, hugged her daughter Krisa after she was discharged by doctors. “I am really not feeling secure about my child being there (at the school). Next time it could be worse,” Lalchan said. Residents of Robert Village residing near the school, said they were not affected. Investigations are continuing.