Five students of Quan Toan Secondary School were hospitalised on December 19 with fainting, breathing difficulties and dizziness allegedly caused by exhaust fumes from neighbouring steel companies.

72 Quan Toan School pupils hospitalised due to fumes

More Hai Phong students hospitalized due to toxic fumes

In a little over one month, nearly 90 students and teachers of this school have been hospitalized for fume inhalation. The school had to temporarily close four times to protect the health of students and staff.

Nearly ten days ago, 9 students fainted and needed doctors’ treatment, Hai Phong Vice-Chairperson Do Trung Thoai temporarily closed down the steel plants around the school to wait for the investigation results. These plants have still operated, however, and continued to discharge fumes.

On December 19, Bui Quang San, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Hai Phong, said that authorities had issued an urgent dispatch forcing six steel plants to stop running temporarily and had also decided to fine some plants for emissions violations.

VietNamNet/NLD