Several students of Kolongoda Maha Vidyalaya in Hasalaka were taken ill this afternoon at school and admitted to hospital. Teachers said 19 students in the Grade Seven class in the top floor of the building, developed an itch all over their bodies and were rushed to hospital.
 
Meanwhile Hasalaka police investigating the incident suspect that the intense heat in the building with a damaged ceiling and the asbestos sheeted roof might have affected their skin.
 
Fifteen children were girls and the other four were boys. However, a spokesman for the Hasalaka Hospital said the scratching was caused by an allergy and that they were out of danger. (Bandula Godakumbura)