Student dies, nine in critical condition after drinking methanol
Mercy Mission Hospital where students from Kolowa Secondary School in Tiaty Sub-County have been admitted after consuming methanol .One student was confirmed dead. PHOTO | CHEBOITE KIGEN | NATION MEDIA GROUP
One student died while nine others are fighting for their lives in different hospitals in Baringo County after they drunk methanol.
The Kolowa Secondary School student in Tiaty Sub County died while receiving treatment at Mercy Hospital in Eldama Ravine town on Thursday a day after consuming the chemical stolen from the school’s laboratory.
Over 10 students broke into the school’s laboratory on Tuesday night where they stole a whole bottle of methanol into their dormitory and consumed it in the silence of the night.
But sooner, they started vomiting profusely and were rushed to the nearby hospitals.
"It is a very sad incident because we have lost one of our students who consumed the chemical. Seven have been treated at Barpello Mission Hospital while two others have been hospitalised at Mercy Mission hospital in Eldama/Ravine Sub-County,” School head Zakayo Domokong told the Nation as he confirmed the incident.
FIVE MINUTES
According to him, nine are Form Three and Form Four students while two are in Form One and Form Two.
He said that three of them took the concentrated chemical hence suffering severe internal injuries while those who had minor ailments had diluted it.
According to a clinical officer at Mercy hospital, James Orodi, they received three students on Tuesday around 2.50am. He said one died five minutes upon arrival.
“We tried to resuscitate the one who was seriously sick but he succumbed five minutes later. The two others are still under medication but they are not yet stable.
“We have administered ethanol to the duo which is an antidote of methanol they had consumed and we hope that they will recover,” said Mr Orodi.
The clinical officer said that they were yet to receive information from the school in order to know what transpired.
"The three students who had been referred from Barpello Mission Hospital in Tiaty had been accompanied by the school head boy.
“The only information we have is that they consumed the laboratory chemical on Tuesday evening and started vomiting on Wednesday where they were taken to the hospital," said the clinician.
