Nearly 60 children fall sick after ‘gas smell’ reported at Japan elementary school

It remains unclear what caused children to fall sick as authorities say they found no leakages in school premises

File photo: People walk across an intersection in Osaka, western Japan, Monday, 13 March 2023 (Kyodo News)

At least 50 elementary school students were left sick and eight others had to be hospitalised in Japan after initial reports said gas could be smelled at the school premises.

Local authorities said the students fell sick at the school in western Japan’s Osaka prefecture, but added that none of them are in serious condition. The authorities also said there was no leak inside the school building after reports of the smell had emerged.

Firefighters and several ambulances were sent to the Kamei Elementary School in the city of Yao at around 10am local time on Monday after they received reports of the gas smell.

School children were also temporarily evacuated from the school premises, located in a residential area, after the incident.

Local news reports said a gas odour was detected at the school. It was later clarified, however, that there was no leak inside the school.

The Japan Times quoted officials at the Yao police station as saying that no suspicious object was found at the school. Authorities did not reveal any reasons why the children fell sick.

An investigation, however, is ongoing.

There was panic at the school premises as students and their parents milled about the courtyard, watching firefighters move in and out of the building.

“I came because I was worried,” said a mother whose son is a sixth-grade student at the school, adding she wanted to “bring him home quickly”, the Japan Times reported.