Nghe An: A series of students had to go to the medical station after using free drinks in front of the school gate.

On the morning of March 17, Quang Trung Primary School (Vinh City) suddenly gathered students right before the start of class. Here, the school's Board of Directors repeatedly reminded students not to accept free food and drinks from strangers outside the school.

This move came after nine fourth-grade students of the school had to go to the medical station due to stomachaches and nausea after consuming the free drinks. According to Ms. Tu Thi Thu Huong - Principal of Quang Trung Primary School, the incident happened at the beginning of the afternoon class on March 16.

The 9 children who had to go to the medical station were all 4th grade students at Quang Trung Primary School (Vinh City). Photo: Tien Hung

"It wasn't time for school yet. I saw students rushing out of the school gate so I went down to check and saw many students carrying bottles of soft drinks running into the school. When I asked, the students said they were given out for free outside the school," Ms. Huong said.

Noticing something was wrong, Ms. Huong immediately ordered the drum to be beaten even though it was not time for class yet. At the same time, the school used loudspeakers to inform all students to return all bottles of water they had received to the medical room. Homeroom teachers were also asked to check the number of students in their class who had consumed this drink.

Free bottles of water. Photo: Tien Hung

"Then I ran out and saw a small truck with a Hanoi license plate parked in front of Quang Trung Secondary School, right next to our school. Some people wearing company uniforms were handing out bottles of water to students. I asked the driver why they were giving them out for free, but he couldn't answer. Before they left, I managed to take a picture of the license plate," said teacher Huong, adding that the school later reported the incident to Quang Trung Ward Police.

Quang Trung Primary School later recovered 183 bottles of soft drinks. Of these, 53 students had time to drink. "Many students only drank a few sips so they did not show any symptoms. Only 9 students in the same class received the drinks first so they drank a lot, some drank the whole bottle," Ms. Huong said, adding that about 2 hours after drinking the drinks, 9 students went to the school's medical room to complain of stomachaches and nausea. All of the students were then transferred to the ward health station for examination. After being transferred by doctors, they were able to go home that evening. This morning, they returned to school as usual.

Quang Trung Primary School later recovered 183 bottles of water, while the neighboring secondary school also recovered more than 50 bottles. Photo: Tien Hung

"There were many abnormalities. The expiration date and production date on the bottle were very blurry and we couldn't see the date clearly. We checked the barcode on the bottle but it didn't give us any information," Principal Huong said, adding that the incident was due to the fact that some students at the school did not stay for lunch. In the afternoon, on the way to class, they saw a truck giving out free drinks, so they ran into the school and called the other students to come and receive them.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai - Principal of Quang Trung Secondary School said that after receiving information from the neighboring primary school, the school also conducted a review. "We then recovered more than 50 bottles of water, 6 students had time to drink and luckily did not show any unusual symptoms," Mr. Hai said.

The area where the truck distributes free drinks is in front of Quang Trung Secondary School. Photo: Tien Hung

According to Principal Hai, a similar incident happened here a few months ago. The school warned the students many times after that, so this time many students did not accept the drinks, and some accepted them but did not dare to drink them. "Even if it is free, the school must be contacted. Do things openly and honestly. You cannot just do it secretly like that," Mr. Hai said indignantly.

Police are continuing to investigate the case.