Criminal case opened after 48 Almaty schoolchildren hospitalized

Police in Almaty, Kazakhstan, have opened a criminal case after an incident in which 48 students of the Republican Physics and Mathematics School were hospitalized, NUR.KZ reports.

The case was opened by the police department of Bostandyk district, the Almaty Police Department said in an Instagram post. Police added that, based on a set of investigative measures, including the findings of a sanitary inspection by SES, the circumstances of the incident will be established and a procedural decision will be made.

Earlier, dozens of students at the school were reported to have been admitted to hospital with signs of acute intestinal infection, prompting inspections at the school. The Almaty Department of Public Health later said that 48 students had been hospitalized, while another 6 children were isolated in the boarding house and remain under medical observation. The Ministry of Health named violations found at the school and spoke about measures being taken. The school has temporarily switched students to distance learning.