Tens of students exhibited symptoms of vomiting, stomachache, and discomfort on Monday evening after having a lunch meal at Van Don Middle School in District 4, Ho Chi Minh City on the same day.

The school was informed on Monday night that some students had experienced stomach pain, Le Thi Thuy, principal of the school, said on Friday.

Over 40 students took a day off on Tuesday as they vomited and suffered stomachache, while some others who came to school fell sick, thereby receiving care in the medical room, Thuy said.

Officials from the District 4 People’s Committee and the local division of education and training approached the school to conduct an inspection on Tuesday morning, while some doctors were dispatched to the educational facility to treat the ill students.

The school halted the meal supply on Wednesday, while the samples of food provided to students on Monday are being tested.

The test result will be announced on October 20.

“The school has cooperated with two meal suppliers, who monthly take turns providing food for the school. Due to the incident in which many students fell ill after a lunch meal, the school temporarily ended the contract with one of them,” she said.

Over the past three years, Thuy has always enjoyed a lunch meal one hour before students’ lunch time.

“I eat the meal first to check the taste and the quality of the food, and to see whether the meal is safe or not,” Thuy recounted.

After her lunch meal on Monday, she started suffering abdominal pain at 4:00 am a day later.

“This was an unexpected incident, the school expects sympathy and understanding from parents,” the principal said.

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