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Well water sickens over 100 Beijing students
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-18 15:07
More than 100 students at a suburban Beijing vocational school were
hospitalized after being exposed to contaminated well water, state media said
Sunday
Some 113 students from the Fangshan District Community Service
and Vocational School in southwestern Beijing had been hospitalized for diarrhea
and vomiting since Tuesday, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.
Forty-three students remained in the hospital Sunday and 70 had been
discharged, the paper said.
Investigators believe polluted well water
that fed the student dormitory and was used for showers and tooth brushing was
to blame for the illnesses, the paper said.
High levels of ammonium
nitrate and nitric acid were found in the well water, the paper said. It did not
say how the pollution got into the well water. The dormitory's drinking water
was not affected, it said.
The paper did not give the age of the
students.
A man who answered the phone at the local Fangshan Education
Department but who declined to give his name said the school was a high school,
with students ranging from 16 to 18 years old.
He said he had no details
about the case and referred calls to the local health bureau, where the phone
rang unanswered. The school's number was not listed.
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