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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — More than 100 students from the same school in Afghanistan's western Herat province have been hospitalized after falling ill, a health official said Saturday.
Rafiq Sherzai, a doctor at Herat's regional hospital, said the students were between 7 and 12 years old and all attended the Fatiha School in the city of Herat, the provincial capital. Sherzai said all were in good condition. He did not offer a cause for the mass illness.
Abdul Raouf Ahmadi, a spokesman for Herat's provincial police chief, said only a dozen students were affected. He blamed the children's illnesses on eating "expired beans." He said police were investigating the incident.
Food poisoning and waterborne illnesses remain prevalent in Afghanistan, which has suffered through decades of war and has limited public infrastructure.
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