Own Correspondent|Fifty-six grade four pupils from Sigombe primary school in Nkulumane suburb were Friday rushed to Mpilo Central Hospital amid fears they may have eaten poisonous seeds from a Jatropha tree at the school.

The pupils, 34 boys and 22 girls were partaking in a cleanup exercise at the school premises when they reportedly consumed the poisonous seeds.

After the cleaning exercise, the learners went back to class where they started complaining of feeling unwell.

One by one, the children started vomiting and complaining of stomach pains prompting the teachers to investigate the cause.

It was discovered the learners ate Jatropha seeds which are poisonous and the school authorities rushed them to hospital.

Out of the 56, one learner was said to be critical but the medical staff managed to stabilise all the pupils.

Mpilo Hospital Public Relations Officer, Ozias Ndlovu said the learners were treated for abdominal pains and diarrhoea.

“We gave the children Oral rehydration salt (ORS) to replace the fluids they lost. They will be placed under observation for the night,” he said.

“I was phoned by the school informing me that my child has been rushed to hospital after he consumed some poisonous plant. I rushed to the hospital and found him stable and on a drip,” said one parent who declined to be named.

By late afternoon the hospital was now making arrangements to move the learners to other spacious wards in the hospital due to limited space at the children`s hospital.

Dr Ngwenya said jatropha is a multi-purpose tree which can be used to produce soap, lubricants, biodiesel and also helps in soil conservation.

“When one ingests the seeds, which is never advisable, they will experience severe vomiting, loose stools and abdominal pain which can be fatal. This is why we want these children to be closely monitored because we may not know the degree of the poisoning,” he said.

Dr Ngwenya said institutions, especially those dealing with children, should not plant jatropha as it is harmful.

“I urge schools not to plant such trees because they pose danger and put children’s lives at risk. Some countries have banned this tree. Imagine that only three seeds of Jatropha can destroy someone’s health,” he said.

Bulawayo Acting Provincial Education Director Mrs Olicah Kaira said this is the second incident involving the hospitalisation of pupils after eating jatropha.

“This is the second incident in Bulawayo. It happened at Manondwane Primary school in Nketa a couple of years back and it shows that pupils are not being taught about the harmful effects of this plant,” she said.

Mrs Kaira said her Ministry would engage schools to teach children about the harmful effects of some wild fruits.

The paediatric ward at Mpilo yesterday afternoon and found a hive of activity as nurses were attending to the pupils. One pupil who was critical was put on an intravenous drip as she was dehydrated.