The mystery of intoxicated schoolgirls in Iran continues to thicken. This Sunday, new cases were listed in several regions of the country, but the origin of this mysterious illness remains unknown. Day after day, the phenomenon is repeated: students in girls’ schools breathe in “unpleasant” or “unknown” odors and then show symptoms such as nausea, shortness of breath and dizziness. Some are briefly hospitalized but none have so far been seriously affected.
On Sunday, new poisonings were reported in two girls’ high schools in the cities of Abhar (west) and Ahvaz (southwest), but also in a primary school in Zanjan (west), according to the Isna news agency. , citing local health officials. Schoolgirls were also poisoned in schools in the holy city of Mashhad (north-east), Shiraz (south) and Isfahan (center), according to the Mehr and Ilna agencies.
52 establishments targeted
In total, several hundred cases of gas poisoning have been reported in more than 52 establishments in the past three months, according to the official count. “A very bad smell spread all of a sudden, I felt bad and fell on the floor,” said a schoolgirl on television. Parastou, a high school student from Boroujerd (west), told the newspaper Ham Mihan being hospitalized after “felt nausea and severe pain” in her chest.
During a meeting with the Minister of Education in Qom, the Grand Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli called on officials to “settle the problem as soon as possible” in order to “reassure the Nation”. “It is frightening to note that the origin of the poisoning of the students has not yet been determined,” he lamented.
Last week, an official from the Ministry of Health explained that “certain individuals” were seeking, by carrying out such actions, to “close all schools, in particular schools for girls”. Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi reported on Saturday evening the discovery of “suspicious samples” during “field research”. But he did not give more details to identify the substances used.