A primary school pupil has died of suspected food poisoning and others were treated at a hospital in Nha Trang City.

The fifth-grader who died was a pupil at Vĩnh Tường Primary School in the coastal south-central province of Khánh Hòa.

Many other students from the same school and also Trần Hưng Đạo Secondary School were admitted to hospital on Friday morning.

According to an announcement from the People's Committee, just before 7am on Friday, the fifth-grade student began to feel tired and fainted after eating breakfast.

The school immediately provided first aid and called Khánh Hòa Emergency Centre 115 to transfer the student to the provincial General Hospital for emergency treatment.

However, the student died due to respiratory failure before reaching the hospital. The cause of death is still unclear.

Between 7am and 7.30am, 19 other students showed symptoms of abdominal pain, vomiting and headaches. They were given first aid and the school transferred 16 students to the general hospital and three students to Nha Trang General Hospital for treatment.

By around 9am, nine students of Trần Hưng Đạo Secondary School were also found to have similar symptoms.

Trần Hưng Đạo Secondary School then sent three students to the provincial General Hospital, five students to Nha Trang General Hospital, and one student to Phúc Sinh General Clinic for treatment.

By noon on the same day, according to reports from hospitals, the health condition of all the students was stable, and they are currently being monitored.

Based on initial information, the students had breakfast with various dishes at food stalls and from street vendors outside the school.

After the incident, the People's Committee of the city arrived at the scene to direct the handling of the case and visited the home of the deceased student to offer condolences and provide support to the family.

The authority is urgently coordinating to investigate, verify and clarify the cause of the illness.

In another development, in the Central Highlands province of Lâm Đồng, the Health Centre of Di Linh District said 28 students were hospitalised in the area after eating candy on the afternoon of Thursday.

According to the health centre, the 28 students were hospitalised after eating an unknown-origin candy, called Tian C.

The candy was purchased by a student from the school at a general grocery store of Võ Thị Kiều Xuyên in Hamlet 9, Tân Châu Commune.

On Thursday afternoon, the student brought it to school and shared it with classmates.

After eating the candy, the students experienced symptoms such as abdominal pain, headaches, blurred vision, dizziness and nausea.

When taken to the medical facility, the health centre conducted necessary tests but found nothing unusual.

By 8pm on April 4th, all 28 female students were discharged home in stable health condition. — VNS