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Gangdong District middle schoolers get sick from school drinking fountain

Published: 19 Jun. 2025, 17:30

[YONHAP]

Dozens of students at a middle school in Gangdong District, eastern Seoul, reported stomachaches and diarrhea after drinking water from a campus fountain, prompting a public health investigation.

Around 30 students at the affected school developed symptoms of waterborne illness on Monday after drinking city tap water from the school’s drinking fountains, according to education authorities on Friday.

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The school distributed an epidemiological survey to all 430 students the day before, and no additional cases have been reported since.

Health authorities have launched an investigation, collecting samples from the school's water supply and equipment. Results are expected in about two months.

“Most of the students have recovered, except for a few with mild symptoms,” a spokesperson from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education’s Health and Safety Promotion Institute said. “We are awaiting the results of the health authorities’ investigation.”

The school is currently using water trucks to supply water for meal preparation.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]