By Sahel Mangal
Fifty girl students fell ill and were hospitalised after drinking water from a well inside their school in the Samkani district of southeastern Paktia province on Wednesday, an official said.
Education Director Mehrabuddin told Pajhwok Afghan News the Semin Akbari High School students were hospitalised after they complained of headaches, dizziness and vomiting.
An area elder, Haji Mamoor, said the affected students numbered more than 50, adding the hospital where the girls had been taken lacked facilities.
“The Samkani district hospital does not have the capacity to accommodate the girls and lacks facilities to treat them,” he said. This is for the first time that schoolgirls have been poisoned in Paktia.