A grade 4 pupil has died and two others have been hospitalized after consuming food laced with poison at a school in Harare.
The victims are said to have eaten snacks and drinks offered to them by one of the classmates.
According to the police, a school source indicated that the said classmate offered them the snacks at around 10:30 am during break, but she declined to consume some herself.
“The pupils fell ill almost immediately, but the teachers did not act quick enough. There is a clinic at Emakhandeni nearby, but that option was not taken.”
It took four hours for an ambulance to be called in, when the school authorities realized the situation was getting out of hand.
Doctors confirmed one of them died before arrival, while the two are battling for their lives.
The hospital’s CEO, Professor Solwayo Ngwenya, said: “I can confirm that on Wednesday, three primary school children were befallen by tragedy.
“One of them was brought to the hospital already dead, and the other two girls are admitted at our hospital and they are undergoing treatment and further investigation. We send our condolences to the family and are very saddened by this development.”
The medical head said the two hospitalised pupils were stable.
“The most dangerous time if you consume a poison is the period before you get to hospital. When they get here, we are generally able to stabilise the patient. The poison was quite potent, based on the almost sudden death of one of the children who was reportedly foaming at the mouth,” he said.
Meanwhile, the said classmate told authorities she was acting on the orders of her grandmother.
Police checks revealed the grandmother has been linked to a previous poisoning incident in the school.
The school’s head reportedly collapsed when she got news of the tragedy.
Police have opened a murder inquiry.
