At least seven students from the José Luis Dubrocq pre-university in Matanzas have been hospitalized this Friday due to suspected gas poisoning.

The official newspaper Girón reports that eight students have been admitted and states that there is currently "a commission" at the institution investigating what happened.

Según publica la televisión local Yumurí, la intoxicación ha tenido lugar en el segundo piso del Instituto Preuniversitario José Luis Dubrocq, de la ciudad de Matanzas. Allí, aclara el medio oficialista, se sintió "un olor de un gas muy fuerte y varios alumnos comenzaron a sentir mareos, falta de aire y enrojecimiento".

For this reason, he adds, the school has been evacuated and "seven students are stable at the Eliseo Noel Caamaño Pediatric Hospital. They are receiving oxygen and are progressing satisfactorily."

In response to the social alarm that has arisen, the same official outlet asserts that "at this moment, the leadership of the Party (Communist Party of Cuba), the Government, Provincial Education, and the Ministry of Interior are evaluating the situation and investigating the causes."

They arrived at the hospital by bus and vehicles

Other sources according to CiberCuba report that at least thirty students with symptoms of poisoning have arrived at the hospital by bus and ambulance. Some have been able to get off the bus on their own, while others did so unconscious or fainted.

"There are not just seven affected, believe me. So far, a bus full of students has been taken to the hospital, and they were brought in fainting, some barely breathing," noted a witness to the events to CiberCuba.

From what I could hear, no one knows what could have caused the students' intoxication, but they say that suddenly, a strong smell of acrylic was detected, which left several young people unconscious. That odor spread quickly throughout much of the school. The same students and teachers had to evacuate and stop a bus and other vehicles to urgently transport those who inhaled the chemical and were fainting. Many arrived at the hospital unconscious, and others collapsed as they got off the bus that brought them.

"What’s curious, he adds, is that not even fifteen minutes have passed and the State Security is already here. The kids don’t know what has happened. They are confused. They say there was one who was incredibly brave and went into the classroom where they felt it the strongest (the gas) and carried out several classmates who were almost fainting. He kept saying it was a strong smell of acrylic," he told CiberCuba.

The affected students, aged between 15 and 18, have also explained that the smell arrived suddenly and when they started to faint and run, "it spread everywhere."