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Nearly 100 school students faint in Assam’s Karimganj, hospitalised
The incident, which took place at the Ramkrishnanagar Vidyapith in the Ramkrishna Nagar area, created panic among the students and the parents
More than 40 school students fell unconscious during a Gunotsav programme at a school in Assam’s Karimganj district on Saturday, according to the district administration.
Bijoy Malakar, a local MLA, said that on Friday, around 50 students fell unconscious after which they were rushed to the local primary centre in the district.
“Some of them were admitted to hospital and some recovered automatically. We are not sure about the reason behind this,” Malakar said.
The incident, which took place at the Ramkrishnanagar Vidyapith in the Ramkrishna Nagar area, created panic among the students and the parents.
Speaking to reporters, the school teachers said that on Friday morning, some students fainted after behaving strangely, and they were taken to the hospital.
“They were released in the evening, but on Saturday, many more students fainted during morning prayers that created panic among the other students,” the teachers told the media on Saturday.
According to the authorities, mostly the girl students from classes 5 to 9 were affected.
Dipankar Das, an external evaluator for Gunotsav Programme, who witnessed the incident on Saturday, said during the morning assembly, two female students started screaming and rolling on the ground.
“The teachers and other employees of the school tried to calm them and took them to the sick room, but suddenly, more students started behaving similarly. In a few minutes, the students started to faint one after another,” Das said.
Additional district commissioner, Karimganj, Dhrubajyoti Pathak, along with a team of officers, reached the Ramkrishnanagar Civil Hospital to review the situation.
“We are not calling it a mass hysteria. It could have happened because of mental pressure. Doctors said that this was a psychological issue, and most of the students have been released from the hospital after initial treatment,” Pathak said.
The doctors have called a team of psychiatrists to examine the matter, Pathak said.
Meanwhile, the guardians of the students and locals gathered at the school campus on Saturday and demanded the withdrawal of Gunotsav, following which the district commissioner, Mridul Yadav, cancelled the programme and shut the school for three days for further investigation.
