35 school children ill after consuming Jatropha seeds

At least 35 students in Tezpur fell ill after consuming Jatropha plant seeds near their school today, hospital sources said.
The students in the age group of eight to ten years were rushed to Kanaklata Civil Hospital here in Sonitpur district after they complained of stomach ache and vomited, school sources said.
According to hospital superintendent Dr K Basumatary, the condition of the children of Dolarabari L P School was stable as medical treatment was provided immediately.
The child specialist attending to the children at the hospital informed that the students were out of danger as they had consumed only a small proportion of the seeds.

Some of the victims families informed that their wards had consumed the seeds of the tree near their school as someone identified them as cashew nuts.
Hasmat Ali (10), a student of class IV said, "Some one distributed the seeds in the school and said that they were cashew nuts and all the students of our class consumed them".

Dipamoni Bora, a teacher of the school said, "It was 9 AM and we were getting ready for the half yearly examination when suddenly a few students started throwing up and gradually 35 students were affected".
Assistant District Commissioner (ADC) Rajiv Prakash Baruah and Circle Officer Tezpur Saranga Pani Sarma rushed to the spot and said the situation was normal, all the children were out of danger.

Jatropha flowering plant and its seeds contains compounds that are highly toxic and ingesting as few as three untreated seeds can be fatal to humans, scientists said.