13 May 2009

Afghan girls in third school poisoning

8:12 am on 13 May 2009

Authorities in Afghanistan are investigating whether 90 girls who fell ill at a school north of the capital, Kabul, were the victims of deliberate gas poisoning.

It's the third such incident at a girls' school in less than three weeks.

Five young girls were in comas and nearly 100 were taken to hospital after the gas attack at Qazaaq school.

The interior ministry says the girls were vomiting and suffering from dizziness.

A member of parliament for the area says the poisoning was the work of people opposed to the Afghan government.

Girls were banned from attending school during the rule of the Taliban, who were overthrown in 2001.