Forty-seven children and three teachers were taken to Siloam Hospital for check-ups after inhaling an unknown gas, suspected to be teargas, in their classroom.

The incident happened at Tshithuthuni Primary School at Tshithuthuni village outside Siloam at about 13:45 on Monday (June 10).

According to the chairperson of the school’s governing body, Mr Maudu Netshithuthuni, the incident happened in the Grade 7 class, after a pupil smashed a teargas tin against the wall of the classroom. “After the tin was damaged, gas was released through a small opening in the tin," he said.

“Shortly after the incident the face of one of the girls started to swell, while the othe pupils started to sneeze. Three of the teachers who went into the class also started to sneeze after they had inhaled the gas,” explained Netshithuthuni during a telephonic interview. He stated that the school regarded the incident as extremely serious and emphasised that all 47 pupils and the three teachers were taken to Siloam Hospital for a check-up on Tuesday morning.

Netshithuthuni said there was no sign of complications caused by the gas to the victims, and even the girl whose face started swelling was now in good condition. “The boy told us he found the teargas tin lying in the street in the morning while he was walking to the school," said Netshithuthuni.

The spokesperson for the Siloam Police, W/O Tharaga, disputed allegations that the tin was full of gas when the boy found it in the street. “It is not true that the children inhaled the gas, as the tin was empty when the boy found it in the street,” said Tharaga. Asking why the tin was found in the street, Tharaga said: “We are avoiding asking many questions to the boy, as he is busy writing exams. Right now we are going to test the tin to help us to arrive at an answer," said Tharaga.

Netshithuthuni said that no case had been opened with the police as “we are now focusing on the health of the children. As I am talking to you now, we are waiting for the ambulance to come and pick up the last group of the affected children, so that they can be taken to Siloam Hospital. What we want is for our children to be examined to establish if there is any serious effect on their health,” said Netshithuthuni.