NOVOSIBIRSK, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - Seven students and a teacher from a middle school in southern Siberia have been hospitalized following poisoning by an unidentified gas, the local emergencies ministry department said Wednesday.
"As of 2.10 p.m. local time [7.10 GMT] eight people have been hospitalized," said a spokesman in the Altai Territory, where the incident happened.
The ministry said that on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. local time (7:00 a.m. Moscow time), students at School No. 1 in the village of Komsomolskoye smelled a sharp odor. Thirteen students and a teacher suffered from reddening of the eyes and sore throats.
In all, 185 people have been evacuated from the school and a group of experts from the Ministry of Emergency Situations is working at the scene.
Earlier the ministry reported that 13 students and two teachers had complained of the effects of gas.
