Mexico
57 children poisoned by an unknown substance in a Mexico school: Report
As many as 57 students studying in a rural secondary school have fallen sick after poisoning by an unknown substance in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, Reuters reported citing local authorities.
After the incident, a video on social media said that the laboratory tests detected cocaine in the blood of the deceased students.
However, the state prosecutor's office rejected the claims. On a social media video on Saturday, the office said that it had conducted 15 toxicology investigations and all came out negative for illicit drugs, said the report.
Local news outlets said that some parents believed that their children were exposed to contaminated food and water.
The Mexican Social Security Institute said Friday that 57 students arrived with symptoms of poisoning and one student, who was in a critical state, was transferred to a hospital in the state's capital.
The institute said that other students were stable.
Since September 23, local media have reported two previous cases of mass poisoning in the city of Tapachula, affecting dozens of students, stated the Reuters report.
The state prosecutor's office said that it would continue to conduct more tests on the students but did not speak about the previous incidents.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Bochil community, where the incident happened, expressed anger over the issue and said they were coordinating with the state prosecutions office.
Dozens of parents also gathered at the secondary school and demanded answers from authorities, a Facebook video showed.
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